Celtic Ross County
CELTIC were let off the hook by Ross County on Saturday afternoon on a day the Dingwall side could really have set a cat among the pigeons in the Premiership title race.
County missed a handful of gilt-edged opportunities in the first half at Parkhead, with Celtic looking defensively disjointed before Callum McGregor slotted home a penalty to fire them ahead.
Odsonne Edouard sprang from the bench to seal the points with a quick-fire double and keep his side ahead of rivals Rangers at the business end of the table.
Here are five talking points from Celtic Park.
CELTIC’S DEFENSIVE FRAILTIES LAID BARE
It was an unusual afternoon at Parkhead, given the apparent gulf between the two sides on the scoreline, but based on the number of chances the visitors created – especially in the first half – the result perhaps was not a fair reflection of the performance from both teams.
Neil Lennon’s men were caught out on numerous occasions by County’s direct setup. Blair Spittal’s long, diagonal passes to set Josh Mullin in behind the backline was a particular strength of theirs.
Jozo Simunovic, in particular, looked out of sorts in the first 45 minutes given his lack of gametime in recent months.
Mullin should have scored twice in the first half before Spittal sliced wide the equivalent of an open goal as Celtic struggled to deal with the pace at which they broke. Steven Ferguson and Stuart Kettlewell’s charges might never have a better chance to win – or at least earn a share of the spoils – in Glasgow.
LEIGH GRIFFITHS DIDN’T GET A TOUCH
For a player who has scored two goals in as many games heading into a home clash with the league’s ninth-placed side, you could have been forgiven for thinking Leigh Griffiths was a stick-on to score.
To do that, though, the striker needed some sort of service, which – in the hour or so he played on Saturday
– he was not provided with. The frustration on his face was clear to see on a number of occasions when Celtic’s midfield opted to slow things down and find their full-backs for a run as opposed to setting Griffiths away to chase a more direct approach.
Obviously Griffiths is a different option up front to what his team have at the moment. The forward will run the channels for 90 minutes if he has to. But he wasn’t helped out much by his team-mates.
WHAT MUST GREG TAYLOR DO TO PLAY?
Celtic were defensively poor in the first half before they managed to shore things up, somewhat, in the second. One man who never seemed to get to grips with the game, though, was Jonny Hayes.
Numerous stray passes set up County chances and the Irishman was beaten in the air all afternoon by Lee Erwin and Co. One criticism that has been lobbed at Taylor, meanwhile, is that he has a lack of cutting edge in the final third, that he is not where he should be in terms of quality going forward. On this showing, Hayes is not much better.
Granted, Moritz Bauer seemed to see a lot more of the action on the other flank, but whenever Hayes did see the ball in an attacking sense, his crosses were over-hit and his decision-making questionable. Taylor cost Celtic around £3million and really should have kicked on by now. The fact that he hasn’t begs the question: why not?
MARK HENDRY
JOSH MULLIN HAS A BIG FUTURE
All of Ross County’s best play came through Mullin on the right flank. A clear and obvious game-plan that, on another day, might certainly have worked out.
County have not been as consistent as they would have liked this season, but if they can keep their playmaker in this sort of form, with a tad more luck, the 27-year-old will undoubtedly come good for his side down the line. He’s only managed two goals this term but, in the Championship last season, he nabbed 14. There’s a talent there that needs to be tapped into and if he can find his form in front of goal again, County will be fine and Mullin will have eyes on him from clubs at a higher level.
EDOUARD STILL THE MAIN MAN
The headlines have been all about his team-mate Griffiths in recent weeks but Odsonne Edouard made sure all the talk was about him on Saturday with his two goals.
He scored a header with his first touch after replacing Griffiths before slotting home a cool second that allowed Celts to breathe a bit easier. All that while nursing a toe injury that forced his manager to leave him on the bench in the first place.
It remains to be seen whether Edouard and Griffiths, or Patryk Klimala, can strike up a long-term partnership in a 3-52 formation.
No matter the decision on that aspect, though, there’s no doubt that ‘French Eddy’ is still number one around these parts.