Scottish Premiership
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Celtic Park, Glasgow

CELTIC…3
(McGregor 37, Edouard 65, 68)

ROSS COUNTY…0

ODSONNE Edouard put on a masterful display to help Celtic to a 3-0 win against Ross County at Paradise. The champions were battling to increase their one-goal lead when Edouard came on to help guarantee the three points with a quickfire brace.

The visitors sat in and worked hard in defence from kick-off, making it difficult for Celtic to build in attacking momentum. The first chance came from Mikey Johnston cutting inside with the ball and skipping past two opposition players before threading the ball through to Griffiths. However, there was too much pace on the pass and Nathan Baxter rushed off his line to intercept.

Just before the 10-minute mark Celtic were awarded a free-kick after Mikey Johnston was brought down around 25 yards from goal. Griffiths delivered a good cross which Jullien connected with, but his header was blocked by goalkeeper Nathan Baxter.

Ross County grew in confidence as the game progressed and began threatening Celtic for a spell in the first half. The visitors' first chance in front of goal came when Josh Mullin ran on to a long diagonal pass deep from inside Ross County’s half. With Simunovic in pursuit, the midfielder tried to chip Fraser Forster from the edge of the penalty area, but his effort was too high.

Emboldened by the chance, Ross County threatened again moments later. Mullin used his pace to good effect to get down the right flank and cut a pass back for Blair Spittal who wasted the opportunity by steering his shot wide of the post from close-range.

Celtic responded with an attack of their own, Johnston delivering a good cross towards the back post which James Forrest met with his head inside the six-yard box. It looked a certain goal until Baxter pulled off an impressive reaction save to stick a hand out and stop the ball from crossing the goal-line.

The breakthrough came when Keith Watson pulled Johnston down inside the box and the referee awarded Celtic a penalty. Callum McGregor stepped up and tucked the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

And Neil Lennon's side almost doubled their lead immediately following the goal when Forrest twisted and turned away from challenges inside the box and shot across goal. Griffiths rushed in to try and stab home the ball as it was flashing past the post but it was inches out of reach and went out for a goal-kick.

Edouard made an immediate impact upon his introduction early in the second half after he replaced Griffiths, heading home McGregor's corner. And two minutes later, the French striker killed the game off with Celtic’s third goal. Forrest slipped the ball to the Hoops forward on the edge of box and he dribbled away from Watson before coolly placing the ball in the bottom corner for his 20th goal of the season.

Celtic passed up a golden opportunity to increase their lead further 15 minutes from the end. A neat one-two between Johnston and Edouard resulted in the winger bearing down on goal with the ball. However, instead of trying to beat the keeper he cut a pass back for Forrest which was intercepted.

CELTIC: Forster, Bauer, Jullien, Simunovic, Hayes; Brown, Ntcham (Rogic 70), McGregor; Forrest, Griffiths (Edouard 62), Johnston (Dembele 85).
Subs: Gordon, Taylor, Klimala, Welsh

ROSS COUNTY: Baxter; Fraser (Foster 47), Kelly, Erwin, Vigurs, Mullin (Paton 76), Watson, Spittal, Tillson, Donaldson, Cowie (Spence 81)
Subs: Laidlaw, Fontaine, McKay, Shaw

Website Man of the Match: Odsonne Edouard

Masterful Edouard helps Celts to victory over Ross County