Celtic boss Lennon hails ‘outstanding’ Edouard

Celtic manager Neil Lennon claims Odsonne Edouard looks like he is playing street football at times with his mastery of the ball.

Edouard took his season’s tally to 24 on Wednesday night with a double in Celtic’s 4-0 win at Motherwell.

The France Under-21 international finished off a counter-attack to put the champions in front and curled home his second free-kick in four days to round off a win that keeps Celtic seven points clear in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

“He is an outstanding footballer,” Lennon said. “He looks like he is playing in the streets at times, he makes it look easy but it’s not.

“He is deceptively strong, deceptively quick and he’s got brilliant feet, and he’s as cool as a cucumber. So we are delighted with the form he is in.

“That’s 24 goals already this season. There’s no doubt this is his best season and he’s only going to get better.”

Lennon was delighted all round as Celtic repelled Motherwell’s first-half pressure to make it 17 goals in five league matches in 2020 with Leigh Griffiths and Callum McGregor also on target.

“It was a great performance against difficult opposition,” Lennon said. “We negotiated it brilliantly, the football was superb. The goals were magnificent so we are delighted with the way we are playing.

“I was delighted with McGregor, Odsonne is playing out of his skin, Leigh Griffiths is playing very well, and the midfield is very strong. I was delighted with Jozo (Simunovic), he had a really good game. Considering he has been out for so long, the way he has come back has been a credit to him.

“Motherwell came for us, they pressed really high and were full of energy. In the end we wore them down and could have had a few more goals, but 4-0 is an emphatic result.”