A NEW HOPE
Edouard the hero as Celtic kickstart their Euro dream with ‘fantastic’ victory
ODSONNE EDOUARD resurrected Celtic’s Europa League hopes on a nail-biting night at Parkhead with a dramatic matchwinner against RB Leipzig.
Kieran Tierney’s 11th-minute opener was cancelled out by Jean-Kevin augustin in a tumultuous second half but, within a minute of that equaliser, Edouard fired home to scenes of jubilation in the east end of Glasgow.
Brendan rodgers hailed ‘a brilliant performance’ from his team and described it as a ‘proper win against a very good Bundesliga side’.
‘To get the three points was fantastic,’ said the Parkhead boss. ‘and I need to say a big thank-you to the supporters because they created an incredible atmosphere and it really helped the
players. The players deserved to win the game. The effort they put in, the fight, we stood up to the pressure they put us under. ‘Some of our play was fantastic, it was a brilliant performance. When you press as a team you can have no egos, everyone has to run and press and be aggressive and we had that. ‘It was a proper win against a very good Bundesliga team.’ Full-back Tierney said Rodgers’ side had refused to give up, even when facing a Leipzig onslaught in the second half. ‘It was right up there,’ he said. ‘In European games in the past when we conceded a goal the heads might have gone down but tonight we reacted. ‘It was brilliant to score. I was just concentrating on getting my shot away.’ Victory still leaves Celtic behind the Germans on goal difference in their head-to-head contest, having lost 2-0 in Leipzig a fortnight ago. But the pair are locked on six points each and, with Red Bull Salzburg having tied up top spot with a 5-2 thrashing of Rosenborg in Norway, Rodgers’ (pictured) men have it all to play for as they travel to Scandinavia later this month before welcoming Salzburg in their closing Group B fixture. Tierney’s opening goal, following a quick freekick and drilled cross from livewire winger James Forrest, set Celtic up for a party on a night when the club gave their much-discussed ‘disco lights’ a debut during a flashy pre-match show. Scott Sinclair squandered a great chance to make it 2-0 early in the second half, taking too long when one-on-one with the Leipzig goalkeeper and eventually running out of space. And the home side had to withstand a ferocious spell of pressure as the Germans swarmed forward in search of an equaliser, Rodgers’ men spending long periods camped in their own half, defending doggedly and throwing bodies in front of shots. All of their efforts looked to have counted for nought when Frenchman Augustin equalised from a delicious Konrad Latimer cross with 78 minutes gone. But, straight from the restart, Sinclair, Ryan Christie and Edouard combined in a sweeping move that ended with the Frenchman tapping in from close range to send Celtic Park into uproar. ‘It was important we got back into the game and got forward as quickly as possible after they scored,’ said Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor, ‘and thankfully we scored right away.’ There were still nerves to be jangled, with Leipzig substitute Kevin Kampl hitting the bar with a thunderbolt of a shot four minutes from time and blazing a strike high over with only moments remaining. But Scotland’s champions held on for a famous win, keeping alive their hopes of securing European football — with a place in the last 32 of the Europa League — beyond Christmas.