Ross County no match for Celtic

Glasgow Celtic added to their lead on top of the Scottish Premiership on Saturday’s visit by Ross County. Celtic currently have a four point lead over their rivals Glasgow Rangers, who do have a game in hand even after their Sunday fixture against bottom of the table Hearts. Celtic have taken the league by storm once again, only losing twice in their 22 games, scoring 61 goals (2.77 per game) and only conceding 14 (0.64 per game). They have lost to Livingston once and Rangers once, with Hibernian snatching the single draw. There was only one favorite in the fixture against Ross County and Celtic duly delivered.

As most teams visiting Celtic Park, Ross County took an extra defensive approach to the game. After experimenting with different two-striker-formations, Neil Lennon reverted back to the “normal” 4-2-3-1 and the result was nothing short of impressive. Celtic controlled the game throughout and took 70% possession in the first half. Ross County’s effort can’t be faulted, though, as they defended bravely and kept Celtic out of clear cut goal scoring chances. The home team took the lead in the first half on 37th minute by Callum McGregor’s penalty kick, but the score line could’ve easily favored the home team much more.

Celtic kept on pressurizing despite the lead, but the reward kept hiding until the breakthrough striker Odsonne Edouard took the field, replacing wasteful Leigh Griffiths on the 63rd minute. Edouard made an instant impact and scored two goals within five minutes of his appearance, on 65th and 68th minute. With the double, the Frenchman took a four-goal-lead in the Premiership scoring race with 16 goals, chased by Rangers duo Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe, both having 12 goals to their names. The quick strike finished off Ross County’s prospective chase and Celtic walked out as clear and deserved winners.

League leading Celtic will travel to visit St. Johnstone next, on a midweek fixture on Wednesday. The game starts an interesting four-game stretch of road fixtures, during which Celtic will face Hamilton, Motherwell and in Scottish FA Cup Clyde. For the next fixture, don’t miss out on Dafabet’s Celtic FC Prediction Challenge in order to win weekly free bets!