Ross County vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.
Global Energy StadiumAttendance6,512.
Match report as Hoops notch their 10th successive victory
Monday 2 December 2019 00:06, UK
A Ryan Christie double helped Celtic ease to their 10th win on the bounce as they beat Ross County 4-1 in Dingwall.
The Celtic midfielder gave his side the lead on the rebound after his initial spot-kick was saved by Nathan Baxter after 12 minutes, before Ross Stewart brought Ross County level (24) with his side's first effort on goal.
Former Inverness Caledonian Thistle man Christie restored his side's advantage seven minutes before the break as he latched on to Kristoffer Ajer's through ball to guide his finish past Baxter.
Second-half goals from Tom Rogic and substitute Mikey Johnston sealed the win as Celtic temporarily moved clear at the top of the table before Rangers thrashed Hearts 5-0 later in the afternoon.
Celtic arrived in the Highlands on the back of nine straight wins and were keen to dominate the early exchanges against a Ross County side who had failed to win in eight league matches.
The warning signs were evident early on for the hosts when Christie smashed the post after just six minutes before Rogic had an effort deflected just wide.
Celtic took the lead after 12 minutes when Keith Watson was adjudged to have kicked Lewis Morgan after the ball had been cleared in the hosts' box. Christie stepped up and, despite on-loan Chelsea 'keeper Baxter guessing right, he could only parry the ball back to the feet of the Scotland international.
Neil Lennon's side were dominating possession with Morgan, again selected in the absence of the injured Odsonne Edouard up front, doing his best to drag the County defence all over the place.
However, well against the run of play, it was County who scored next. Josh Mullin's free-kick was completely missed by the entire Celtic defence allowing Stewart to nod the ball past Fraser Forster.
It was the first headed goal that Celtic had conceded in the Scottish Premiership this season and County started to enjoy a bit more possession in the visitors' half as the game wore on.
However, Celtic regained the lead seven minutes before half-time when Ajer's simple ball through the middle found the Ross County defence napping and Christie beat the offside trap to sprint in behind and finish well past Baxter.
Celtic started the second half with real intensity as they sought to break down a hard working County side. Callum McGregor went close after picking up a lovely touch from James Forrest but he slammed his effort from the edge of the box on to the outside of the post just before the hour mark.
However, Celtic did get their third after 67 minutes. Morgan did well to make space for himself down the left and his low cross was helped on by Greg Taylor and then Christie before Rogic arrived to sidefoot his effort into the corner, with the aid of a deflection off Sean Kelly which took the ball away from the goalkeeper.
Rogic was then replaced by Johnston who enjoyed an instant impact, latching on to Taylor's pass before skipping past Ricky Foster and Callum Morris far too easily and sidefooting the ball into the corner of the net.
The home side thought they had got one back five minutes from the end when Stewart fired home but referee Nick Walsh called the goal back for offside prompting an angry reaction from the County bench as replays showed that while Brian Graham was in an offside position, he did not get involved in play as his strike partner ran onto the ball from an onside area.
Celtic had chances to make it five through substitute Leigh Griffiths and again through Johnston but Lennon's side settled for four as they moved clear at the top.
Neil Lennon: "Very pleasing to score four away from home and go three points clear again off the back of a very good week.
"I'm delighted with the performance, we look a real threat every time we go forward - it's not easy to play against a team set up to contain you, so we had to be patient.
"We got a little bit sloppy for 10-15 minutes in the first half but then the second-half performance was excellent. We're just keeping the momentum going and we're in a good place."
On Christie, the Celtic manager added: "He's outstanding, two big goals from Ryan. The first he followed up his own penalty, I think he changed his mind but the second was superb and he's in a great vein of form."
County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell branded referee Nick Walsh's decision to rule out Stewart's effort in the 82nd minute for offside "a farce", although there was a suggestion afterwards that the decision was against Brian Graham, who was inactive until he obstructed Christopher Jullien.
Kettlewell said: "I am not going to stand here and say it would have had any reflection on the game. It is a tough enough task as it is - to be getting decisions like that wrong is a farce. It is wrong. I have never seen an occasion when an offside is given by the referee without a linesman raising his flag to that point.
"The referee blows his whistle and a few seconds later the linesman put up his flag. That's the wrong way round.
"We have to say we wrongly disputed the penalty. The camera angle shown to us didn't show any clear contact. But we are honest enough to apologise to the officials for disputing a decision. It is a penalty and we accept that but I can't accept the last one. It could come down to goal difference, we just don't know."
