2017-09-16: Celtic 4-0 Ross County, SP

Match Pictures | Matches: 2017 – 2018 | 2017-18 Pictures

Trivia

• Back to the league
• Celtic played in Champions League a few days back.
• "How are we supposed to compete when they spent so much?" asked a Celtic fan, before turning attention to this match v Ross County.
• Celtic go 55 games unbeaten domestically.
• Week has been taken up by Celtic pushing for review of Scottish football in light of Rangers 2012 liquidation, sadly some other clubs (to the extreme angst of their fans) have said they don’t want a review. Disgrace. A review is necessary and should lead to title stripping.
• Sevco player Lee Wallace has no interest in discussing the EBT row at the heart of Scottish football, saying to a reporter he doesn’t even know the meaning of the word “liquidation”. The Ibrox captain was asked about the ongoing row at Thursday’s press conference but denied any knowledge of the issue and quickly moved on. His club pressman denies liquidation happened, incredibly. We all just laughed.
• Kolo Toure joined Celtic as Technical Assistant, as part of the club’s coaching team. Kolo to be part of the club’s football management team, and very welcome back he is.
• Brendan Rodgers is keen to get Dedryck Boyata tied down to a new contract after the club successfully negotiated new deals for Jozo Simunovic, Callum McGregor and captain Scott Brown. Boyata’s current deal expires in the summer of 2019.
• Celtic fans are clubbing together to pay the fine of a supporter who struck pitch invader John Hatton during the club’s Champions League clash with PSG. 61-year-old Tony Lavelle hit Hatton after the latter invaded the pitch to attack striker Kylian Mbappe. Lavelle was handed a £400 fine, though he avoided a football banning order or suspension from Celtic Park.

Review

(Haitch of KDS)
Enjoyed that today, played well in both halfs.

Rogic ran the show. Good to see Moussa back amongst the goals and Forrest chipping in again.

Encouraging performances from Hayes and Ralston and Bitton had a good game at centre half – happy for him to play there in games which we'd be expected to have 70% or more possession.

Decent atmosphere too after what happened midweek.

We move on to hopefully skelp EBT McCann's mob in the midweek.

(Jack Thaler of KDS)
Positives:
Moussa back fit, and in goalscoring form;
Brown's performance;
Gordon's double save;
Hayes' work rate;
Rogic's sharpness.

Negatives:
Not keen on that back 3

Very enjoyable afternoon.

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Stats

Celtic
Ross County

Possession
Home70%
Away30%

Shots
Home30
Away7

Shots on Target
Home9
Away5

Corners
Home7
Away3

Fouls
Home10
Away9

Articles

Celtic 4 – 0 Ross County: Moussa Dembele returns with goal
Celtic's Moussa Dembele scores his side's second goal of the game. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
Andrew Smith Celtic Park
Published: 17:25 Saturday 16 September 2017
Have your say
The returning Moussa Dembele scored his first goal of the season as Celtic reaffirmed their domestic dominance with a crushing 4-0 win over Ross County.
• READ MORE: Celtic star Leigh Griffiths plans scarf celebration for Ibrox
It is tempting to see the events of yesterday at Celtic Park as being in complete contrast to those in midweek: Brendan Rodgers’ men back to their blitzing ways after being blitzed by Paris Saint-Germain.
Yet, for all that, in going for 55 – domestic games unbeaten that is – Celtic weren’t as far removed Ross County as the Parisians were from them. Even as they ran the Highland club ragged.
Therein lies the rub. The Celtic manager revealed after a canter of a win, one in which his Dingwall counterpart Jim McIntyre admitted his team suffered “wave after wave of attack”, that he effectively used yesterday’s encounter as an experiment.
Rodgers rested Kieran Tierney completely, swapped five players from the team tortured by PSG, switched to a 3-5-2 and gave a first start after two months out with injury to Moussa Dembele in the rare role as striking partner to Leigh Griffiths. And none of these unusual elements had any effect on Celtic being able to do their usual number on a domestic opponent.
Dembele netted on his return, while Tom Rogic proved unplayable for the visitors in a scoring display that eclipsed even the second-half double from James Forrest.
Celtic won eight and dew one of the nine games they played directly after Champions League games last season and McIntyre acknowledged the emphatic victory they produced yesterday wasn’t so much a reaction to the midweek humbling as simply what they do.
“The mentality Brendan has instilled in the squad you would get that performance regardless of what the result was the other night,” the County manager said. “Of course they are going to be hurting and are going to want a bounce back. You lose games here it is crisis so we knew what we would be facing and expected a few changes. When they make changes they seem quite seamless and the quality is not diluted as well.”
The die was cast from the moment Rogic rolled it with a pop from the edge of the area in the 13th minute that he lashed in at the near post. Dembele announced his return with a first goal in six months three minutes before half-time when Griffiths fed him and made a decoy run that allowed the Frenchman to curl a low effort in at the far corner from the left-hand edge of the box.
McIntyre lamented the lead-up to Celtic’s third in the 52nd minute. That was down to it coming moments after Craig Gordon had made an exceptional double-save which required the Scotland international to produce a spectacular airborne twist to deny Davis Keillor-Dunn from the edge of the area after the ball broke to the County player as a result of Gordon blocking with his legs when Craig Curran was one-on-one with him.
From that phase of play Rogic manufactured another shooting opportunity and keeper Aaron McCarey pushed the ball out to his left only for Forrest to steam in and bundle it over the line.
The fourth came when Forrest cut in from the right and guided a left-foot shot into the far corner with 16 minutes to play. There could have been many more, but the four-goal response to PSG was more than enough for Rodgers, who rightly took satisfaction from how his team adapted to personnel and system changes – one of which was Jonny Hayes being deployed as a left wing-back.
“It was perfect,” the Celtic manager said. “The players deserve a huge amount of credit. To come to a game after the midweek game, with a lot of energy put into that, and we knew we were going to play against a Ross County team that are very dogged and would make it difficult for us. We said to the players, ‘listen, we take our medicine during the week, we learn from and that is what this group are very good at doing. We remain very positive, press the reset button and go again.
“We play teams four to six teams a year and Celtic always has to be dominant. But it can never be stale. You can’t be predictable.
“And having the flexibility to play in the different systems that we do will hopefully make it challenging for our opponents each time we play.
“So today playing with the two strikers, with the width and the numbers inside – it worked well.”

BBC

By Tom English

at Celtic Park

From the section Football

Celtic striker Moussa Dembele and winger Jonny Hayes
Celtic's win extends their unbeaten run to 55 domestic matches

Celtic moved clear at the top of the Premiership with a comfortable victory over Ross County.

Manager Brendan Rodgers made five changes after the midweek Champions League exertions, and three of the players brought into the side scored.

Tom Rogic delivered the opener with a left-foot finish, and Moussa Dembele, making his first start since July, added the second before half-time.

James Forrest secured the win after the break, scoring twice in 22 minutes.

Rodgers' side lost 5-0 to Paris St-Germain on Tuesday, but there was no diminishing their domestic authority.

As well as the three goalscorers, Nir Bitton and Jonny Hayes came into the side, with Rodgers lining Celtic up in a 3-1-4-2 formation that allowed Dembele to partner Leigh Griffiths up front.
Celtic winger James Forrest
Celtic winger James Forrest scored twice in the second half as the champions overcame Ross County

Ross County would have been expecting a backlash from Celtic – and they got it. It was a bit of a slow-burner, though. Celtic were at their best only sporadically and yet still they were full value for their four-goal win. As they piled it on at the end, it could have been five or six.

They went ahead with a goal from the dominant Rogic. It was a soft one, a shot that beat County goalkeeper Aaron McCarey at his near post.

Forrest might have made it two not long after, but he pulled his shot wide. For their part, County had a chance through Alex Schalk, but Craig Gordon made the save.

Tony Ralston thumped a shot off the post just before the break, but that second goal came within two minutes, Dembele scoring it with a curling finish from the left edge of the penalty box. His goal apart, the striker was rusty and will take a few weeks to get back to his best, but this was an important first step for him.
Ross County goalkeeper Aaron McCarey
Ross County goalkeeper Aaron McCarey endured a difficult afternoon at Celtic Park

County manager Jim McIntyre made changes early and his team started the second half in more ambitious form, pushing men forward and almost earning a reward. Six minutes into the new half they had a double chance and were denied both times by Gordon.

Craig Curran, a half-time substitute, had the first, Gordon pushing it away. The loose ball fell to Davis Keillor-Dunn, who thumped his effort on goal only for Gordon to fling himself in its path and knock it clear. Outstanding stuff from the Celtic goalkeeper.

If County were sickened at that missed opportunity, what happened next finished them off completely.

A Rogic shot was parried by McCarey straight into Forrest's path and the midfielder could not miss from close range. He added a second 16 minutes before the end, cutting in from the right and drilling a shot across the County goalkeeper.

Match ends, Celtic 4, Ross County 0.
Full Time
Posted at 90'+2'

Second Half ends, Celtic 4, Ross County 0.
Posted at 90'+2'

Attempt missed. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) header from the right side of the six yard box is too high.
Posted at 90'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Tim Chow.
Posted at 88'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Tim Chow.
Posted at 87'

Attempt blocked. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 87'

Attempt blocked. Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 86'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Jason Naismith.
Posted at 85'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Aaron McCarey.
Posted at 85'

Attempt saved. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Posted at 83'

Attempt saved. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Posted at 83'

Foul by Anthony Ralston (Celtic).
Posted at 83'

Ryan Dow (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 81'

Attempt missed. Michael Gardyne (Ross County) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Posted at 79'

Attempt missed. Scott Sinclair (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left.
Posted at 77'

Attempt missed. Nir Bitton (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Substitution
Posted at 75'

Substitution, Celtic. Scott Sinclair replaces Leigh Griffiths.
Goal!
Posted at 74'

Goal! Celtic 4, Ross County 0. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Odsonne Edouard.
Posted at 74'

Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 70'

Foul by Jonny Hayes (Celtic).
Posted at 70'

Michael Gardyne (Ross County) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 68'

Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Posted at 68'

Jonny Hayes (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 68'

Foul by Jason Naismith (Ross County).
Posted at 67'

Attempt blocked. Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Posted at 66'

Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 65'

Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 65'

Foul by Tim Chow (Ross County).
Posted at 62'

Attempt missed. Tim Chow (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
Substitution
Posted at 60'

Substitution, Celtic. Callum McGregor replaces Stuart Armstrong.
Substitution
Posted at 59'

Substitution, Celtic. Odsonne Edouard replaces Moussa Dembele.
Posted at 59'

Attempt missed. Scott Brown (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left following a set piece situation.
Posted at 59'

Attempt blocked. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 58'

Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 58'

Foul by Tim Chow (Ross County).
Substitution
Posted at 57'

Substitution, Ross County. Ryan Dow replaces Davis Keillor-Dunn because of an injury.
Posted at 57'

Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Posted at 56'

Delay in match Davis Keillor-Dunn (Ross County) because of an injury.
Posted at 55'

Attempt blocked. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 54'

Attempt blocked. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 53'

Attempt missed. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Goal!
Posted at 52'

Goal! Celtic 3, Ross County 0. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner.
Posted at 52'

Attempt saved. Michael Gardyne (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 51'

Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Craig Gordon.
Posted at 51'

Attempt saved. Alex Schalk (Ross County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner.
Posted at 51'

Attempt saved. Craig Curran (Ross County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Posted at 50'

Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
Posted at 50'

Jim O'Brien (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 48'

Foul by Anthony Ralston (Celtic).
Posted at 48'

Davis Keillor-Dunn (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Booking
Posted at 47'

Jim O'Brien (Ross County) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 47'

Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 47'

Foul by Jim O'Brien (Ross County).
Posted at 46'

Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 46'

Foul by Craig Curran (Ross County).
Second Half
Posted at

Second Half begins Celtic 2, Ross County 0.
Substitution
Posted at 45'

Substitution, Ross County. Craig Curran replaces Ross Draper.
Substitution
Posted at 45'

Substitution, Ross County. Tim Chow replaces Sean Kelly.
Half Time
Posted at 45'+1'

First Half ends, Celtic 2, Ross County 0.
Posted at 44'

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
Posted at 44'

Michael Gardyne (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal!
Posted at 42'

Goal! Celtic 2, Ross County 0. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Leigh Griffiths.
Posted at 40'

Anthony Ralston (Celtic) hits the right post with a right footed shot from outside the box.
Posted at 36'

Attempt saved. Alex Schalk (Ross County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Posted at 36'

Foul by James Forrest (Celtic).
Posted at 36'

Davis Keillor-Dunn (Ross County) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 35'

Foul by Moussa Dembele (Celtic).
Posted at 35'

Marcus Fraser (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 33'

Attempt missed. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Posted at 30'

Attempt blocked. Moussa Dembele (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 28'

Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Anthony Ralston.
Posted at 26'

Attempt saved. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 25'

Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
Posted at 25'

Ross Draper (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 23'

Attempt missed. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner.
Posted at 23'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Andrew Davies.
Posted at 23'

Attempt blocked. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 21'

Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left from a direct free kick.
Posted at 20'

Tomas Rogic (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 20'

Foul by Kenny van der Weg (Ross County).
Posted at 19'

Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Jozo Simunovic.
Posted at 18'

Marcus Fraser (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 18'

Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
Posted at 15'

Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is just a bit too high.
Goal!
Posted at 13'

Goal! Celtic 1, Ross County 0. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by James Forrest.
Posted at 12'

Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 12'

Foul by Jim O'Brien (Ross County).
Posted at 12'

Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 12'

Foul by Alex Schalk (Ross County).
Posted at 10'

Attempt saved. Michael Gardyne (Ross County) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 9'

Foul by Stuart Armstrong (Celtic).
Posted at 9'

Michael Gardyne (Ross County) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 8'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Jason Naismith.
Posted at 5'

Attempt missed. Jozo Simunovic (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Posted at 5'

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Sean Kelly.
Posted at 5'

Attempt blocked. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 4'

Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 4'

Foul by Ross Draper (Ross County).
Kick Off
Posted at

First Half begins.

Lineups are announced and players are warming up.