Ross County vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.
Global Energy StadiumAttendance5,502.
Match report as Celtic beat Ross County 3-1; Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring before Alex Iacovitti's equaliser; two late goals seal win for Celtic; report from the Scottish Premiership clash between Ross County and Celtic at the Global Energy Stadium
Tuesday 9 August 2022 22:02, UK
Mortiz Jenz scored on his Celtic debut as the champions recovered from a Ross County equaliser to secure a 3-1 victory at the Global Energy Stadium.
Kyogo Furuhashi opened the scoring just after the break as Celtic capitalised on their dominance at the Global Energy Stadium.
But Alex Iacovitti pulled Ross County level soon after as he headed in from the corner kick.
Moritz Jenz responded by heading in Jota's cross on his debut before Liel Abada secured the win in injury time.
The victory extends Celtic's unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership to 34 games while Ross County have started the new season with back-to-back defeats.
On-loan Lorient defender Jenz had only been drafted in after Stephen Welsh dropped out through illness on Friday.
The 23-year-old German picked up a booking in a shaky moment in defence but looked assured on the ball and made himself an instant hero with the crucial moment of the game on a ground where Celtic needed an Anthony Ralston winner in the seventh minute of stoppage time last season.
David Turnbull replaced the injured Reo Hatate and the midfielder chipped just beyond the far post from a tight angle early on. Jota cut inside and had a shot deflected wide but Celtic initially struggled to break County down.
Their first real chance came just before the half-hour mark when Jota made towards the byline and crossed for Daizen Maeda but the Japan forward sent a free header over the bar.
Celtic stepped up and Turnbull created another good chance with a reverse pass for Furuhashi, whose shot was parried by Ross Laidlaw before Matt O'Riley sent a first-time volley wide on the rebound.
O'Riley failed to make the most of two more quickfire chances before Laidlaw pulled off a good stop from Maeda's flick.
County had only threatened from set-pieces in the first half with Ross Callachan and Iacovitti sending efforts over the bar.
Both sides made half-time changes with Owura Edwards on for County and Abada replacing Maeda.
Celtic found an extra gear and took the lead after Callum McGregor drove into the box and found Jota. The Portuguese winger skipped past a defender and cut back for Furuhashi to slot into the bottom corner.
O'Riley headed straight at Laidlaw from a good chance before County levelled.
Iacovitti got above his man to meet Edwards' corner and headed down. Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart appeared to be unsighted by one of his defenders and the ball bounced into the net.
Jota sent a curling effort just wide before Hart pulled off an excellent flying save from Edwards' free-kick after Jenz had brought down Jordy Hiwula.
County full-back Connor Randall injured himself in the process of fouling Jota as the hosts frustrated the champions and they had a dangerous set-piece themselves just before Celtic broke and won the corner that led to Jenz scoring.
Celtic were in control in the closing stages and Jota claimed his third assist by laying the ball back for Abada to finish in style.
Ross County manager Malky Mackay was focusing on the positives, despite the defeat.
"It's been a tough week in terms of the work we've done off the pitch in terms of the tactical messages I have given them and the footage we have watched.
"We play in a manner that doesn't allow us to be carved open because we were playing against a Champions League team.
"At the same time we needed the belief to, at times, threaten their goal, which we did.
"I was heartbroken for them because they were four or five minutes from putting in a performance that really puts people's heads up in Scottish football saying 'what's going on there?'"
Ange Postecoglou praised the resilience of his Celtic players as they extended their unbeaten league run.
"We know it's a difficult place to come and it's a difficult team to play, and with the conditions being as they are with the wind, you know it's going to be a real challenge.
"But credit to the players, from start to finish we played it on our terms. We were patient when we needed to be, we got a goal I thought we deserved.
"They scored from a corner which is always a possibility, they are a big strong team.
"But our response was outstanding. We stuck to our task, played our football, scored another good goal and even then there was no thought of stopping there, we got our third and I'm really pleased with every aspect of our game."
Celtic are away to Kilmarnock on 14 August, live on Sky Sports.
Ross County travel to Paisley to take on St Mirren on August 13.
