Odsonne Edouard managed a career first for Celtic last night

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He’s come under fire for his performances this season, but Odsonne Edouard actually managed a career first for Celtic last night.

Indeed, Odsonne had a bit of a quiet performance in Paisley before his 79th-minute penalty. He had plenty of opportunities to tee up some of his team-mates, but too often his decision-making let him down.

You sense he’s still got a bit to go before he reaches top form. His performances this season have attracted criticism from pundits and fans alike. Davie Provan, for example, labelled the striker as “looking uninterested” last month [Scottish Sun].

Yet over the last flurry of games, he’s started to find his groove again. Last night’s penalty against St Mirren continued his impressive goal return in recent weeks. It was his eighth goal in nine games as his form starts to read a lot better.

However, he also managed to bag himself a career first against the Buddies too. His goal made it five consecutive games in which Eddy has found the net. Something he had yet to do beforehand at any stage in his career.

Odsonne Edouard struggling this season; still bags a career first

In fairness, he’s come close in the past. Last season, he managed to score in four of five consecutive games. This was in January 2020 as he began his partnership with Leigh Griffiths that helped shoot Celtic to nine-in-a-row.

He managed the same number back in October and November of 2018 under Brendan Rodgers. But that fifth match has always eluded him in any consecutive run of goalscoring appearances. That’s something he put to bed yesterday.

Neil Lennon doesn’t look like giving the Frenchman a rest anytime soon either. Edouard looks a certainty to start for the Hoops against St Johnstone on Sunday. Goodness knows how long his goal-rush could go on for as we look for a big next couple of months from the former PSG star.

It also makes you wonder whether any other striker would get the hard time Eddy gets with these kinds of stats. Had the likes of Leigh Griffiths or Albian Ajeti netted a similar total, would they get the same stick?

You can understand it to an extent. We know how good Edouard is and how much of a difference he can be. We also know he hasn’t been at his best this term. But he’s still only three goals off 20 for the season.

At the end of the day, your striker is paid to score goals. Come the end of the campaign, Edouard is once again going to have a fine total to his name. After finishing on 28 last term [Transfermarkt], don’t be surprised if he comes close to that.