Ross County lose out to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership in Dingwall as Kyogo Furuhashi, Moritz Jenz and Liel Abada ensure Alex Iacovitti's strike was no more than a consolation for the Staggies
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Ross County 1 (Iacovitti)
Celtic 3 (Furuhashi, Jenz, Abada)
Ross County battled valiantly against Celtic, but still ended up losing 3–1 to the defending Scottish Premiership champions.
The match was goalless at half time, but Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring quickly after the restart to reward Celtic for their dominance on the ball.
Alex Iacovitti threw a spanner in the works by equalising, but further goals from Moritz Jenz and Liel Abada made sure it was the visiting supporters celebrating at full time.
From practically the first minute Celtic dominated possession, having their hosts camped deep inside their own half for much of the game.
However, clear cut sights of goal were more difficult to come by.
At times it was wasteful shooting that prevented the defending Premiership champions taking a lead, at times it was courageous defending from the Staggies.
Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley all missed the targets at various points, while David Cancola and Jack Baldwin each put their bodies on the line to prevent further attempt reaching the goal at all.
Glimmers of hope from County's point of view came from set-pieces, with Ross Callachan sending one shot into the back row of the stand trying to shoot on the turn, while on the brink of half time Alex Iacovitti headed wide at a corner.
The introduction of Owura Edwards and Victor Loturi would have done no harm to the Staggies faithful's hopes of coming away with a result, but Celtic finally found a breakthrough minutes after the restart.
Jota found his way into space down the left flank for the visitors before cutting the ball back to Furuhashi who made no mistake this time – picking out the bottom corner.
It was nearly 2–0 immediately afterwards, as a move down the oppose wing saw the ball being crossed into O'Riley, only for the midfielder to head the ball straight at Laidlaw.
County stayed in it, though, and the next time they won a corner they took full advantage.
Edwards' cross was met by Iacovitti who headed towards goal – there were a number of other bodies in the box, but none of them got a touch on it, and Iacovitti's effort found its way into the bottom corner.
Undeterred, Celtic kept venturing forward. Jota got the ball with his back to goal on the left corner of County's box, did well to turn inside and get a yard of space before sending a curling effort just wide of the mark.
Equally, County continued to pose a threat. They got a golden chance to take the lead when Moritz Jenz fouled Jordy Hiwula on the edge of the box, and despite seeing it late Joe Hart managed to keep out Edwards' low effort.
An injury to Connor Randall saw the Staggies make defensive changes as they looked to try and hold on to a point, but Celtic would go back into the lead with five minutes left on the clock.
The move actually start with an attacking free kick for County which came to nothing, allowing Celtic to break forward and win a corner.
They took it short quickly, then sent an inviting cross towards the debuting Moritz Jenz, who was left with a simple header into the net to restore Celtic's advantage.
That was not all, as the game continued to be end-to-end with County searching for an equaliser, but Celtic still posing a threat.
Another goal was on the cards, but unfortunately for the hosts it went Celtic's way thanks to a brilliant finish from Liel Abada in stoppage time to make sure all three points would be heading to Glasgow.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Randall (Johnson 69), Purrington, Cancola (White 82), Baldwin, Iacovitti, Callachan, D Samuel (Edwards 46), Hiwula (Harmon 69), Tillson, Paton (Loturi 46).
Subs not used: Eastwood, Dhanda, Sims, Olaigbe.
Celtic: Hart, Taylor, Jenz, Furuhashi (Mooy 85), Turnbull (Giakoumakis 72), Jota, Carter-Vickers, O'Riley, Maeda (Abada 46), McGregor, Juranovic.
Subs not used: Siegrist, Starfelt, McCarthy, Barnabei, Forrest, Ralston.
Referee: Don Robertson
Attendance: 5500
