Date	Sunday, 02 April 2023
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:2 Celtic
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	6,619
Referee	William Collum
Comments	Match Report Report by Clive Lindsay for the BBC. Ross County 0 Celtic 2 Celtic restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership by overcoming lively Ross County. County survived a first half of Celtic dominance until Alex Iacovitti handled moments before the break and Jota scored from the penalty spot. That forced Malky Mackay's side to attack in a second 45 minutes during which both sides had chances. With County down to 10 men following a Ross Callachan injury, Alexandro Bernabei fired a late settler. It means Ange Postecoglou's side head into Saturday's derby at home to second-placed Rangers with 15 consecutive victories since the Glasgow rivals drew at Ibrox at the start of January. An eighth consecutive defeat at the hands of Celtic leaves County second bottom, four points adrift of Kilmarnock. Both managers handed surprise first starts to otherwise settled sides and, with captain Keith Watson only ruled fit enough for the bench, Mackay drafted 16-year-old Dylan Smith into the middle of defence. It was no surprise that the tall teenager, fresh from Scotland Under-17 duty, was quickly at the heart of action as Celtic assumed their expected domination of possession. As Smith displayed an assurance beyond his years, Tomoki Iwata was controlling play in his direction after the on-loan Yokohama F Marinos midfielder was brought in to replace injured fellow Japan international Reo Hatate and with captain Callum McGregor pushed further forward. The expected Celtic onslaught failed to materialise and, although a blistering Greg Taylor drive struck the outside of the far post, it was not until a moment of County misfortune that the breakthrough came. With Mackay already heading down the tunnel expecting to deliver a satisfied half-time team talk, referee Willie Collum was told to check a handball by Iacovitti as he challenged rival centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers. Jota dispatched the resulting spot-kick powerfully down the middle to change the tone in both dressing rooms. Whatever was said transformed the game into an end-to-end affair, with on-loan Wigan Athletic midfielder Gwion Edwards firing a low drive just wide as the home side at last offered an attacking threat, before Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart had to claw away a George Harmon header. Kyogo Furuhashi shot wide with only Ross Laidlaw to beat, then the hosts' goalkeeper produced a fine double save to deny replacement striker Oh Hyeon-gyu, who also missed the target, while a Jota strike hit the underside of the bar. However, it was not until Bernabei's thunderbolt found the net deep into stoppage time that Celtic fans could breathe easily. County had conceded 20 goals in their previous seven straight defeats by Celtic, so it was no surprise Mackay opted initially for a conservative approach as his side looked to secure their first win over the champions since February 2021. It was a brave move to start teenager Smith at the heart of defence and, bar a few moments where his inexperience showed in a thrilling finish, he justified his manager's confidence in his ability. Mackay was similarly bold in throwing bodies forward in search of an equaliser - and it almost paid off despite having to finish the game a man down - but the bottom line is his side have lost ground in the relegation play-off spot after Kilmarnock's Saturday win over Heart of Midlothian. Postecoglou will just be pleased to have survived one of his side's most stern domestic tests this season and to have once again responded to a Rangers win the day before. Iwata will face stronger opposition, but he showed that the Celtic boss has another quality option in a midfield already brimming with talent. However, Postecoglou will also know that their finishing and deliveries into the penalty box will need to be more accurate against their title rivals at Celtic Park. Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I've watched it half a dozen times and I still can't quite believe the bar for VAR in Scotland is so low. I look at that in England and that's not being given. "It's really disappointing that that then meant we were chasing the game, which we had to do in the second half. I'm so proud of the players and, if we play like that in the last eight games, we'll give anyone a game and get points on the board." Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: "It was a challenging game. We knew it would be. "They make it awfully hard to play in any kind of space. We had to stick at it and I think we did. Maybe we were a bit wasteful, but overall a great mentality from the lads to get the job done."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 4: David Cancola, 6: Alexander Iacovitti, 14: Victor Loturi, 16: George Harmon, 26: Jordan White, 27: Eamonn Brophy, 29: Gwion Edwards, 30: Dylan Smith, 42: Nohan Kenneh
Bench	21: Ross Munro, 7: Owura Edwards, 8: Ross Callachan, 11: Joshua Sims, 15: Keith Watson, 17: Simon Murray, 19: Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, 25: Alexander Samuel, 49: Josh Stone
Celtic
Manager	Ange Postecoglou
Starting 11	Joe Hart, Alistair Johnston, Greg Taylor, Carl Starfelt, Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota (Joao Neves-Filpe) 1, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tomoki Iwata, Matt O'Riley, Daizen Maeda, Callum McGregor
Bench	Scott Bain, Sead Haksabanovic, David Turnbull, Yuki Kobayashi, Oh Hyun-Gyu, Alexandro Bernabei 1, Ben Summers, Stephen Welsh, Rocco Vata