Effective Celtic close out Rosenborg

It was far from pretty but it was always going to be effective.  Celtic matched whatever Rosenborg could offer in Trondheim last night to make their way to the Champions League third qualifying round.

This was not an occasion that will last long in the memory, Celtic only got their passing game together fleetingly – and not at all in the first half, but Rosenborg looked as though they could play all night and not reduce Celtic’s advantage.

What was clear from the start is that Celtic were short of options in possession.  The linking play we are used to seeing from Callum McGregor, Olivier Ntcham and Scott Brown just didn’t happen.  As a consequence, Scott Sinclair and James Forrest were offered little action, while Odsonne Eduard had a largely frustrating evening.

A significant part of Celtic’s play is underpinned by the central defenders pushing ahead of their central-mid team-mates.  This seldom happened last night, almost certainly on team orders.  Consequently, our shape was unfamiliar in possession, but better that, than leaving space to be exploited at the back.

Brendan Rodgers will be happy with the return he got from the players, but will look to stop so many crosses getting into the box, if he deploys a similar strategy again.

Next up, the seventh consecutive Flag Day!