Celtic got back to winning ways with a demolition of Ross County on Saturday. Here are five talking points as the champions moved back to the top of the standings.
CELTIC HAD TO MAKE A STATEMENT, AND THEY DID
Coming off the back of two disappointing results on the road in the Premiership, in particular the desperately poor defeat at Livingston last time out, Celtic had to put in a performance that not only got them back on track, but signalled to Rangers that they are very much in this title race. They did so emphatically.
The only bugbear perhaps from Neil Lennon’s point of view would have been that his team weren’t out of sight by the interval, passing up chance after chance and only having Mohamed Elyounoussi’s early opener to show for 45 minutes of complete dominance. The home side had 21 shots in the first half, with Richard Foster hooking two off the line and Callum McGregor hitting the post when clean through in amongst it all.
The law of averages was borne out spectacularly at the start of the second half though, as four goals in nine blistering minutes had punch-drunk County on the canvas.
Celtic took pity on their bedraggled opponent afterwards, adding only one more goal as Elyounoussi finished what he had started by nudging home the sixth, but Celtic had succeeded in wresting back some of the momentum that had swung behind Rangers in recent weeks.
They are now level on points once again at the top of the table, and not only that, but Celtic now have momentum going into a huge European night against Lazio on Thursday.
MOST COMPLETE PERFORMANCE UNDER NEIL LENNON?
It was a bold claim that the Celtic manager made after the match on Saturday, proclaiming the showing by his men to be the most complete during either of his spells in charge of the club.
That is hard to quantify, but there is no doubt there was little to pick at as Celtic completely blew Ross County away.
The only bugbear, as mentioned, would be the profligacy during the first period, but the way that Celtic were able to tear the visiting defence apart at will would have pleased Lennon greatly.
He has spoken on numerous occasions since returning to the club about how he wants his players to adopt a more direct approach than that favoured by his predecessor Brendan Rodgers, and here we got a perfect example of what he is getting at. Being direct doesn’t always mean long balls, and Celtic showed that by continually looking to play forward passes into feet.
Lennon has repeatedly said he doesn’t want his players to pass for passing’s sake, and against County, almost every pass was an attempt to break the lines. The visitors couldn’t cope.
ODSONNE EDOUARD GETTING BETTER AND BETTER
During the week, Celtic put a Tweet out congratulating their young Frenchman for his red-hot start to his career with his nation’s under-21 side, provoking an amusing flurry of replies from their own supporters to haud their wheesht.
The secret is out though, and those same fans would have welcomed the emphatic statement from their manager during the week that despite the inevitable interest in Edouard from some of Europe’s big guns, the striker would be staying in Glasgow beyond the January window.
He helped himself to a double on Saturday, and in truth, it could have been a lot more. He passed up a few opportunities in the opening 45 that he would normally tuck away, but he made no mistake when he showed his trademark coolness in front of goal when in on goal early in the second period.
His second came from a clever bit of movement to get free round the back, heading home despite the best efforts of Liam Fontaine to clear.
There’s more to Edouard’s game than goals, but that’s 11 in all competitions for the season now in a Celtic jersey for the forward.
JEREMIE FRIMPONG FULL OF POTENTIAL
The young right-back gave a tantalising glimpse of his capabilities as he picked up the man-of-the-match award in his debut against Partick Thistle in the Betfred Cup, and he was trusted in his first Premiership game as Mohamed Elhamed and Moritz Bauer were given the day off.
After a first half where he seemed a little uncertain and failed to shine, he came to life, giving Michael Gardyne such a torrid time in the 15 minutes after the break that he was removed from the firing line for his own good.
He turned him inside out in the lead up to Edouard’s second and then again to lay James Forrest’s goal on a plate, and rumour has it Ross Stewart is still trying to untangle his legs after he was then terrorised by the youngster later on. A player of huge promise.
“I was really impressed with him,” said teammate Boli Bolingoli. “He has been showing his qualities in the last few weeks at training, so he deserved to start the game.
“I believe in his quality, I think everybody at the whole club believes in his quality and he showed why. He is young but he can play and he can play in this team. I am very happy for him.’
RARE POOR CALLS FROM COUNTY MANAGEMENT TEAM COST THEM
There hasn’t been a great deal to criticise the management duo of Stuart Kettlewell and Steve Ferguson about since taking over in Dingwall, and their team isn’t the first – and certainly won’t be the last – to be on the end of a thumping scoreline in Glasgow this season.
There is no shame in being routed at Celtic Park, but even so, there were aspects of their team’s performance that would have disappointed them, and they may look at one or two of their own decisions that didn’t work out too.
For example, there can’t have been many calls that have worked out so disastrously so quickly as moving Keith Watson into centre-back from the right at half-time, the defender making an almighty hash of a clearance as he went with his head rather than his foot to clear a low cross. Edouard wasn’t going to pass up such a gift.
From there, it was a case of how many for Celtic, and the County duo were left to go back to the drawing board as they look to now get back on track at Hibernian.
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