Scottish Premiership
CelticPark
Saturday, October 23, 2019

CELTIC… 6
(Elyounoussi 3 & 71; Edouard 46 & 50; McGregor 48; Forrest 55)

ROSS COUNTY… 0

CELTIC produced a scintillating display of football as they returned to winning ways with an emphatic 6-0 home win over Ross County.

Mohamed Elyounoussi started and finished the scoring, while there was also a double for Man of the Match, Odsonne Edouard and goals from Callum McGregor and James Forrest.

And while the Highland side will be disappointed with the result, there will be some measure of relief too, because, given Celtic’s dominance from start to finish, the scoreline could have been even greater.

At half-time, the scoreline read 1-0 in Celtic’s favour, which was remarkable in itself due to the number of chances the home side created.

Elyounoussi already had fashioned once chance before he opened the scoring after just three minutes. The impressive Jeremie Frimpong glided past Michael Gardyne and slotted the ball inside to Edouard who immediately flicked it on to McGregor.

His first-time pass found the Norwegian forward, and after he cut inside, he curled a right-foot shot into the corner of the net beyond Ross Laidlaw for his second Celtic goal following his strike against CFR Cluj.

Laidlaw was being kept busy, but did well to deny Edouard after 10 minutes, while the visitors' defence also blocked a shot from the Frenchman. The County keeper then produced a superb save to push away a Forrest effort on 18 minutes after the winger’s shot with the outside of his right foot looked destined to end up in the net.

And if Laidlaw wasn’t coming to his side’s rescue, defender Richard Foster was on hand with two goal-line clearances to deny Edouard and then Christopher Jullien.

On 32 minutes, Neil Lennon’s side produced a wonderful counter-attacking move that started on the edge of their own area and ended with McGregor’s shot coming pack off the post. The pressure on the visitors was relentless, but the half-time whistle sounded with Celtic only having one goal to show for their efforts.

Within five minutes of the restart, it was 4-0 as the Hoops produced a blistering display of attacking football and finishing.

Edouard capitalised on a defensive blunder by Keith Watson to slide the ball home within 60 seconds, and two minutes later, the French striker turned provider for McGregor to finish. And on 50 minutes, a rare header from Edouard found its way into the back of the net.

Fraser Forster made one save with his foot to deny Ross Stewart, but it was an otherwise quiet afternoon for the English goalkeeper.

Celtic looked like scoring every time they attacked, and on 55 minutes, James Forrest made it 5-0 with a first-time shot high into the net following superb work down the right flank from Frimpong.

Bayo replaced Edouard on 65 minutes, and just six minutes later he was involved in the move that ended with another Elyounoussi goal. The Ivorian found Boli Bolingoli inside the area and his shot was knocked into the net by the Norwegian to make it 6-0.

It was an impressive afternoon for the champions ahead of their Europa League clash with Lazio at Paradise on Thursday night.

CELTIC: Forster, Frimpong, Jullien, Ajer, Bolingoli; Brown, Rogic, McGregor (Bitton 75) Forrest (Shved 75), Edouard (Bayo 65), Elyounoussi.
Subs: Gordon, Bauer, Hayes, Elhamed

ROSS COUNTY: Laidlaw, Fraser, Fontaine, Draper, Gardyne (Spence), Mullin (Graham), Watson, Foster, Spittal (Paton), Chalmers, Stewart.
Subs: Ruddy, McKay, Grivosti, Power

Man of the Match: Odsonne Edouard

Super Celtic sink Ross County with six of the best