Manager Brendan Rodgers knew his side needed to say fresh given a hellacious stretch of travel for his side over the next week. That showed with eight changes to his lineup from the weekend semi-final win over that other Glasgow team.
Those changes didn’t change anything on the scoreboard though, as three-goal late second half burst led Celtic to a 4-0 win over Ross County in SPFL action.
It appeared that change would bring much of the same result in domestic action from early on. Young right midfielder Patrick Roberts got the start and he got the scoring going in the third minute too.
The opening goal was a great solo effort for Roberts, but it was the beginning of a breakout night for the in-form youngster. He ended the night with a goal and a hand in
Ross County responded back quickly, putting a header off the post not too long after Roberts opener. But, Celtic’s changed defense of Cristian Gamboa, Mikael Lustig, Erik Sviatchenko and Emillio Izzaguire settled in and the hosts struggled to test the defense the rest of the match.
There was plenty to like about Celtic in the first half, as it continuously looked dangerous. Most of it came from the play of Liam Henderson and his relationship with Izzaguire, with the duo setting up plenty of chances.
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Leigh Griffiths got the start and he too was dangerous, narrowly missing the net on a few occasions in the opening stanza of the match.
However, goaltender Scott Fox was up the challenge and made a few brilliant saves to try and keep his squad in the match.
Fox faced 12 shots on target in the match, with Ross County mustering up just five shots on target.
That didn’t mean County wasn’t dangerous. They were harshly done as Craig Gordon took out Liam Boyce only to receive a yellow.
County manager Jim McIntyre was incredulous as to the lack of a red card for Celtic’s kepper, but none was coming.
Despite holding a huge advantage in possession, Celtic couldn’t find a second goal for much of the match. Celtic held a 62 percent advantage in possession on the night, but a second goal didn’t come until Stuart Armstrong found the back of the net in the 83rd minute.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort from the changed side either, as they played with the same high level of intensity of the regulars. The goals just seemed to not be coming and Rodgers made a series of changes designed to put this game away.
Regulars Moussa Dembele (58′), Scott Sinclair (63′) and Nir Bitton (69′) came on and two of the three chipped in for the final scoreline.
Once the second goal came from Armstrong, the floodgates opened for the Hoops.
Sinclair was in the right spot at the right time and one-timed a deflected ball past Fox for a 3-0 lead in the 91st minute.
Just two minutes later Dembele, who subbed on in the 58th minute for Ryan Christie, netting the final tally of the match after another nice move by Roberts for the assist.
It was also the last kick of the match, with Celtic stretching its lead in the SPFL to a full seven points over second place Aberdeen. The Bhoys also kept a domestic unbeaten streak alive, pushing it to 12 games in all Scottish action and 11 straight without a loss in SPFL action alone.