2016-01-31: Ross County 3-1 Celtic, League Cup

Match Pictures | Matches: 2015 – 2016 | 2015-16 Pictures

Trivia

  • Scottish League Cup – Semi-Final
  • Celtic out and so once again fail to win the coveted treble, and Deila's season goes from bad to worse.
  • Many unhappy over the sending off of Ambrose after 15mins,but the penalty was correct so he was off.
  • Griffiths missed a penalty.
  • Is this the beginning of the end for Deila at Celtic, he was banking on domestic success to salvage an otherwise failed season in Europe.
  • Ex-Celt John Dowie passed away, black armbands worn in his honour.
  • TheHerald: Ridiculous situation, journalist Graham Speirs & Angela Hegarty fired from paper after Speirs wrote an article criticising Rangers boards efforts in ending bigotry which by force from the Huns on social media & their club led to a stunted apology. Hegarty printed an article backing Speirs and criticising The Herald, and was subsequently sacked. Pathetic.
  • Sevco have signed a player called 'Billy King', must have been one of the easiest transfers in history for them.
  • Scottish tennis great Andy Murray sadly again loses in the Australian Open final.
  • Transfer Window:
    Last match of the transfer window. Ends Monday night.
    Tyler Blackett to be recalled to Man U. Ambrose to China?
    Celtic sign Erik Sviatchenko signs: Celtic 'bigger than Premier League offers'
    Celtic want Aiden McGeady – but can't afford wages, says Ronny Deila. He is going to England's second tier.
    Darren O'Dea (ex-Celt) joins Dundee.
    Stokes signs for Hibs on loan, all for the best. Has to help his old club in the Championship, with Sevco clear in front at moment. He has a good start there.

Review

(morav 67 of KDS)

Ah well. Today was just another day in the RD era – another match demonstrating that we ain't much of a team at all. I can't even muster up the energy for a good old fashioned rant anymore. I wasn't suprised that we lost today, just as I'm no longer surprised by any draw or defeat. I'm more likely to be surprised on those rare ocassions that we play well.

Fair enough, we were always up against it playing for so long with only 10 men. Anyone expecting us to win in those circumstances is delusional. But what I do expect in those circumstances is fight. I expect the players to come off at the end of the game having given everything. They didn't do that today.

Yeh sure we can argue all we want about the merits of the red card. I've no problem with it. Gordon may have got there first had there been no foul. But he may not have. It was a goalscoring opportunity. I can see why people might think otherwise. But this is what you risk when you play Ambrose. The guy should have been punted long before today. And yeh. There was a clear foul at the 2nd goal. But go back and watch it again. Ignore the foul on Gordon and look at whats going on elsewhere. It was a complete shambles of an attempt to defend the corner. There's a very decent chance they would have scored anyway.

It's not just about today, though. It's about the whole body of evidence. We're a team packed with mediocrity. That's the fault of the board. We're also a team lacking in composure, organisation, leadership and mental strength all over the park. That's the fault of the manager. The sum of our parts don't add up to much at all. For those who still think Deila is the man for the job, I applaud your perseverance and loyalty in the face of such evidence and adversity. I, however, have no faith that we'll ever see anything better than we're seeing now. I really hope I'm wrong on that.

(tinytim81 of KDS)
On reflection I actually feel quite sorry for the team tonight. Everyone is calling them heartless and cowards but that isn't what I saw out there today.

Ambrose sold the jersey (again). With eighty odd minutes left and only ten men, winning the game was always going to be a tall order. Despite that I thought the team handled it okay in the first half.

Second half they score and the goal shouldn't stand. It was a very unfair decision against us. After that we open up to try and equalise which means County have the opportunity to picks us off. Their goalie saved them more than once. Then to compound it Griffiths misses a penalty. Celtic were all over them at that point. I had a feeling if we had scored that one we were taking it to extra time.

Molde, Malmo, those performances were absolutely disgraceful. No heart, no fight, they deserved the abuse. This time I actually thought they were really trying to get the result.

Maybe Armstrong should have come off earlier. Maybe we should have played a narrower game after losing Ambrose. Maybe Deila is naive at times but were the team cowardly? Did they just give up?

I don't think they did.

Teams

Ross County

  • 1Fox
  • 2Fraser Booked at 44mins
  • 43Quinn Booked at 90mins
  • 15Davies
  • 12Foster
  • 8McShane Booked at 68mins
  • 18Murdoch Booked at 17mins Substituted for Franksat 28'minutes
  • 36Irvine
  • 26Woods Booked at 80mins
  • 7Gardyne Substituted for Boyceat 83'minutes
  • 23Schalk Substituted for Grahamat 71'minutes

Substitutes

  • 3Reckord
  • 5Boyd
  • 9Graham
  • 10Boyce
  • 17Franks
  • 21Woods
  • 24De Vita

Goals

  • Woods (15' minutes pen),
  • Quinn (48' minutes),
  • Schalk (63' minutes)

Celtic

  • 1Gordon B ooked at 49mins
  • 23Lustig Booked at 58mins
  • 4Ambrose Booked at 13mins
  • 20Boyata
  • 63Tierney
  • 6Bitton Substituted for Brown at 67'minutes
  • 25Johansen Booked at 90mins
  • 16Mackay-Steven
  • 42McGregor Substituted for Sviatchenkoat 14'minutes
  • 14Armstrong Substituted for Forrestat 79'minutes
  • 9Griffiths

Substitutes

  • 3Izaguirre
  • 7Ciftci
  • 8Brown
  • 26Bailly
  • 28Sviatchenko
  • 49Forrest
  • 64Nesbitt

Goals

  • Mackay-Steven (1' minutes)
Referee:Craig Thomson
Attendance:22,130

Articles

  • Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

Forum

MOTM

Stats

Ross County Celtic
 Possession
Home 45% Away55%
Shots
Home7 Away14
Shots on Target
Home6 Away8
Corners
Home3 Away14
Fouls
Home18 Away8

Articles

BBC
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35394239
Ross County created a massive upset by beating 10-man Celtic in a frenetic League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

Gary Mackay-Steven scored after only 26 seconds to give Celtic the lead, but the turning point came when Efe Ambrose was sent off for fouling County's Alex Schalk in the box.

Martin Woods scored from the penalty, Paul Quinn headed a second after the break and Schalk hammered in the third.

Scott Fox saved Leigh Griffiths' penalty to secure a place in the final.

County seized the day once Ambrose departed and deserved what was a momentous victory for the club.

This time last year, they were rock bottom of the Premiership, six points adrift. Now they are sitting fourth in the league and in the League Cup final for the first time in their existence, where they will face Hibernian on 13 March.

All this came despite County looking a shambles in the early minutes. Celtic were ahead in the blink of an eye.

Callum McGregor played a ball through the giant chasm between County's centre-halves and in motored Griffiths, who ran on freely before squaring to Mackay-Steven.

Highlights – Ross County 3-1 Celtic

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Highlights – Ross County 3-1 Celtic

That goal could have been followed by others. Griffiths had the County defence tied in knots in the minutes that followed.

Ambrose twice went close with headers, the second of them kicked off the line by Richard Foster. It was so easy for Celtic and then, in a sudden twist, it became impossibly hard.

In that fateful moment, Mikael Lustig allowed Schalk to get away from him and on to a loose ball in the Celtic penalty area. Ambrose was slow to appreciate the danger and, in his attempt to recover his ground, his knee came into contact with Schalk, who went over.

It was a penalty and it was a red card for Ambrose. Storm Efe had done its damage again and Woods sent Craig Gordon the wrong way from the spot.

Celtic, to their credit, had the best of the rest of the half. They brought on their new recruit, Erik Sviatchenko, for the unlucky McGregor, to plug the Ambrose gap and create some trouble for County.

Stuart Armstrong and Lustig had half-chances but could not capitalise. When the next opportunity fell to County, they were infinitely more ruthless.

McIntyre's team went at Celtic and got their reward. From a corner that carried to the back post, Andrew Davies nodded precisely to Quinn, who buried his own header past Gordon.

The goalkeeper complained bitterly that he had been impeded as the delivery came into the box – he was booked for his trouble – but he would have been better off castigating his defenders, who allowed two free headers so close to his goal.

Efe Ambrose (right) was red carded for clipping Alex Schalk in the box

Celtic's misery – and vulnerability – was seen again just after the hour, when Woods played Schalk through on goal and the Dutch Under-21 striker thumped his finish into the top corner.

Again, Celtic's defence was a soft touch, easy prey to a simple pass through its heart.

Even when Celtic got a very fortunate penalty, given against Brian Graham for handball, Griffiths – of all people – could not convert. Indeed, Celtic had to rely on Gordon making a fine save from Jackson Irvine to avoid a fourth.

It hardly mattered. County created history none the less. For Ronnie Deila's Celtic, this was a catastrophic day and an abrupt end to their treble dream.

For Jim McIntyre and his players, a day of days.

Match ends, Ross County 3, Celtic 1.

Full Time
Posted at 90'+5'
Second Half ends, Ross County 3, Celtic 1.

Booking
Posted at 90'+4'
Paul Quinn (Ross County) is shown the yellow card.

Booking
Posted at 90'+3'
Stefan Johansen (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 90'+3'
Foul by Stefan Johansen (Celtic).
Posted at 90'+3'
Liam Boyce (Ross County) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 89'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott Fox.
Posted at 89'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott Fox.
Posted at 88'
Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Posted at 87'
Attempt missed. Jackson Irvine (Ross County) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Posted at 86'
Mikael Lustig (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 86'
Foul by Martin Woods (Ross County).
Posted at 85'
Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 85'
Foul by Martin Woods (Ross County).
Posted at 84'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Martin Woods.
Posted at 84'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Ian McShane.

Substitution
Posted at 83'
Substitution, Ross County. Liam Boyce replaces Michael Gardyne.
Posted at 82'
Attempt missed. Kieran Tierney (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Posted at 81'
Attempt saved. Jackson Irvine (Ross County) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 80'
Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Booking
Posted at 80'
Martin Woods (Ross County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 80'
Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 80'
Foul by Martin Woods (Ross County).

Substitution
Posted at 79'
Substitution, Celtic. James Forrest replaces Stuart Armstrong.
Posted at 78'
Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 78'
Foul by Andrew Davies (Ross County).
Posted at 77'
Penalty saved! Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, left footed shot saved in the bottom right corner.
Posted at 77'
Penalty conceded by Brian Graham (Ross County) with a hand ball in the penalty area.
Posted at 76'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Paul Quinn.
Posted at 76'
Erik Sviatchenko (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 76'
Foul by Brian Graham (Ross County).
Posted at 75'
Foul by Mikael Lustig (Celtic).
Posted at 75'
Martin Woods (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 74'
Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 74'
Foul by Jackson Irvine (Ross County).
Posted at 73'
Attempt missed. Mikael Lustig (Celtic) header from very close range is just a bit too high following a corner.
Posted at 73'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Paul Quinn.

Substitution
Posted at 71'
Substitution, Ross County. Brian Graham replaces Alex Schalk.
Posted at 70'
Attempt saved. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 69'
Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 69'
Foul by Alex Schalk (Ross County).

Booking
Posted at 68'
Ian McShane (Ross County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 68'
Stefan Johansen (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 68'
Foul by Ian McShane (Ross County).

Substitution
Posted at 67'
Substitution, Celtic. Scott Brown replaces Nir Bitton.
Posted at 66'
Attempt missed. Erik Sviatchenko (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right following a corner.
Posted at 66'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Richard Foster.

Goal!
Posted at 63'
Goal! Ross County 3, Celtic 1. Alex Schalk (Ross County) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Martin Woods.
Posted at 61'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Paul Quinn.
Posted at 61'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Ian McShane.
Posted at 59'
Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 59'
Foul by Alex Schalk (Ross County).

Booking
Posted at 58'
Mikael Lustig (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 58'
Foul by Mikael Lustig (Celtic).
Posted at 58'
Michael Gardyne (Ross County) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 57'
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 57'
Foul by Jonathan Franks (Ross County).
Posted at 55'
Mikael Lustig (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 55'
Foul by Andrew Davies (Ross County).
Posted at 55'
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 55'
Foul by Alex Schalk (Ross County).
Posted at 54'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Posted at 53'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Paul Quinn.

Booking
Posted at 49'
Craig Gordon (Celtic) is shown the yellow card.

Goal!
Posted at 48'
Goal! Ross County 2, Celtic 1. Paul Quinn (Ross County) header from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Andrew Davies following a corner.
Posted at 48'
Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Dedryck Boyata.
Posted at 46'
Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.

Second Half
Posted at
Second Half begins Ross County 1, Celtic 1.

Half Time
Posted at 45'+4'
First Half ends, Ross County 1, Celtic 1.
Posted at 45'+1'
Foul by Leigh Griffiths (Celtic).
Posted at 45'+1'
Michael Gardyne (Ross County) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Booking
Posted at 44'
Marcus Fraser (Ross County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 44'
Stefan Johansen (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 44'
Foul by Marcus Fraser (Ross County).
Posted at 41'
Foul by Erik Sviatchenko (Celtic).
Posted at 41'
Scott Fox (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 40'
Attempt saved. Nir Bitton (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 40'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Marcus Fraser.
Posted at 39'
Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 39'
Foul by Andrew Davies (Ross County).
Posted at 33'
Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Craig Gordon.
Posted at 33'
Attempt saved. Martin Woods (Ross County) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

Substitution
Posted at 28'
Substitution, Ross County. Jonathan Franks replaces Stewart Murdoch.
Posted at 26'
Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Posted at 25'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Marcus Fraser.
Posted at 20'
Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 20'
Foul by Marcus Fraser (Ross County).

Booking
Posted at 17'
Stewart Murdoch (Ross County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 17'
Kieran Tierney (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 17'
Foul by Stewart Murdoch (Ross County).

Goal!
Posted at 15'
Goal! Ross County 1, Celtic 1. Martin Woods (Ross County) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.

Substitution
Posted at 14'
Substitution, Celtic. Erik Sviatchenko replaces Callum McGregor.

Dismissal
Posted at 13'
Efe Ambrose (Celtic) is shown the red card.
Posted at 13'
Penalty conceded by Efe Ambrose (Celtic) after a foul in the penalty area.
Posted at 13'
Penalty Ross County. Alex Schalk draws a foul in the penalty area.
Posted at 10'
Attempt missed. Efe Ambrose (Celtic) header from very close range is close, but misses to the right following a corner.
Posted at 9'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Richard Foster.
Posted at 8'
Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 8'
Foul by Martin Woods (Ross County).
Posted at 8'
Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Craig Gordon.
Posted at 7'
Attempt saved. Alex Schalk (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Posted at 5'
Attempt blocked. Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) header from very close range is blocked.
Posted at 5'
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Scott Fox.
Posted at 4'
Foul by Callum McGregor (Celtic).
Posted at 4'
Martin Woods (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 3'
Foul by Efe Ambrose (Celtic).
Posted at 3'
Alex Schalk (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Goal!
Posted at 1'
Goal! Ross County 0, Celtic 1. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Leigh Griffiths.

Kick Off
Posted at
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.