HITMAN CHRISTIE TOPS THE CHARTS

Midfielder’s value must be through the roof as brace takes him to 15 goals

THERE must be nights when the powerbrokers at Celtic Park awake in a cold sweat over how close Ryan Christie came to leaving the club last year.

The forgotten man of Lennoxtown at that stage, placing a market value on the 24-year-old at this moment in time would be a fool’s errand. Neil Lennon might feel inclined to add a zero to any estimate.

In scoring a double in the Highlands to put a spirited Ross County side to the sword, the man from Inverness moved to the top of Celtic’s scoring charts with 15 goals. Any striker would be happy with that tally in the first week of December. For a midfielder to achieve that number, together with ten assists, is truly extraordinary.

For all Lennon’s side eventually eased to a tenth straight win in all competitions, the importance of Christie’s contribution in the first half could not be overstated. Having hammered home a rebound from a penalty that he missed, the midfielder watched on as Ross Stewart headed County level.

Six minutes from the break, though, Christie struck again with a sweet finish after bursting through the heart of the home defence and Celtic were never really in danger thereafter.

Tom Rogic added a third and Mikey Johnston a fourth after the break as the expected result was eventually arrived at.

County showed fight but insufficient quality to upset the form book here but will take comfort from the fact that they will have easier assignments before a hectic December is out.

The hardest task facing their joint management team last week would have been convincing their players they had a puncher’s chance of causing an upset here.

Without a win in their past eight

Premiership matches, the memory of a 6-0 hiding at Celtic Park in mid-October would still have been raw.

The contrast with the form of Lennon’s side could hardly have been sharper. Since surprisingly losing at Livingston on October 6, Celtic had swept everything before them domestically and in Europe.

So comprehensive was the last of those victories, Thursday’s 3-1 triumph over Rennes, that Lennon was never likely to make wholesale changes in Dingwall.

Olivier Ntcham made way for Rogic, with Jeremie Frimpong stepping into Moritz Bauer’s shoes.

A glut of injuries and the fact that Ewan Henderson could not play against his parent club saw Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson add Lee Erwin, Keith Watson, Richard Foster and Harry Paton to the side which lost last time out at St Mirren.

Celtic started with the sense of purpose their manager would have demanded. Watson’s foul on Lewis Morgan gifted Christie an early opening. Even from the tightest of angles, he was happy to try his luck, his free-kick coming back off the junction of post and bar.

With County struggling to get out of their own half in the early skirmishes, Rogic saw a shot deflected wide by Liam Fontaine before Josh Mullin stretched to deny Callum McGregor.

The only question seemed to be how long County would hold out for. On 11 minutes, we had the answer.

Over-eager when defending a corner, Watson lashed his clearance against the arm of Lewis Spence. But before referee Nick Walsh could consider the appeal, the County defender had cleaned out Morgan. There was no debate about that one.

Christie’s spot-kick had power but lacked accuracy. Nathan Baxter did well to block to his right but was floundering as the Celtic midfielder redeemed himself by crashing the rebound beyond him.

County needed a chink of light from somewhere. Frimpong seemed like the last man who would provide it but a rash recovery challenge on Stewart gave away a set-piece on the County left at the cost of a booking.

Mullin’s delivery into the six-yard box asked a question. As Rogic mistimed his jump, Stewart stretched his neck and nodded beyond the static Fraser Forster.

It was the perfect reaction from the home side’s perspective. The same could not be said of Fontaine’s woeful challenge on Rogic for which he was fortunate to escape with only a booking.

Leading by example as Celtic tried to bounce back quickly, Scott Brown ran in behind to take James Forrest’s flick in his stride. Callum Morris rode to the rescue to block the Celtic skipper’s dangerous-looking centre.

Just as County were beginning to contemplate enjoying parity at the interval, they conceded again in cheap fashion.

Little seemed on for the visitors as Kristoffer Ajer marched into midfield. Sensing a lack of accord across the County back-line in terms of whether to drop back or push up, the Norwegian rolled a straight pass through to Christie.

The rest wasn’t simple by any means but the on-fire Celtic man certainly made it look that way in rolling the ball under the exposed figure of Baxter.

Determined to stay in the contest for as long as possible, County invited their opponents onto them at the start of the second half.

For all the superior possession Lennon’s men enjoyed, the closest they came to a third was McGregor striking the upright after steering a shot through Watson’s legs.

But any prospect of County’s commendable endeavours amounting to anything ended on 67 minutes.

It was a fine team goal. Greg Taylor instigated it with a smart pass in to Morgan’s feet. Working away from goal, he eventually doubled back to cross. Christie nudged the ball into Rogic’s path.

It’s likely the Australian’s strike would have beaten Baxter without the nick it took off Stewart.

The sight of Johnston climbing off the bench was the last thing County wanted to see. Having scored in his return from the bench against Rennes, he made it two in two after latching onto Taylor’s ball down the wing.

Taken out of the game, Foster just couldn’t make up the yards. Having stepped past Morris, Johnston found the far corner from a tight angle.

County were denied a consolation through Stewart at the end when Brian Graham was erroneously flagged offside despite not interfering with play.

It may have mattered little on the day but given how tight the foot of the table is likely to be come May, it might not be so quickly forgotten.

ROSS COUNTY (5-4-1): Baxter 5; Foster 4, Watson 5, Fontaine 5, Morris 5, Kelly 5; Mullin 6, Spence 5, Paton 5, Stewart 6; Erwin 5 (Graham 64). Subs not used: Laidlaw, Fraser, Gardyne, Mckay, Spittal, Chalmers. Booked: Fontaine. CELTIC (4-2-3-1): Forster 7; Frimpong 6, Jullien 7, Ajer 7, Taylor 7; Brown 7, McGregor 7 (Bitton 81); Christie 8, Rogic 7 (Johnston 71), Forrest 7; Morgan 7 (Griffiths 75). Subs not used: Gordon, Sinclair, Bauer, Robertson. Booked: Frimpong, Johnston. Man of the match: Ryan Christie. Referee: Nick Walsh. Attendance: 6,512.