Celtic headed into this afternoon’s game at a sunny Paradise with a three points lead at the top of the league with hopes of extending that to six points by full time, and in the process ramping up the pressure on title rivals theRangers.
They head to Dens Park in a repeat of last weekends Scottish cup clash, which the Glasgow side won 3-0, but before today’s match got underway the Celtic team would have known that another win will definitely leave them feeling the heat come lunchtime on Sunday. They certainly can’t afford any more slip ups as the conclusion of the season draws nearer.
🗣 Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou asked whether he will be watching Dundee against Rangers tomorrow after moving six points clear:
“My Sunday’s are dictated by my wife and kids, mate.
“Depending if Sing 2 is on the TV or something I’ll probably have to fight for the remote”. pic.twitter.com/yTxfb8Xb9n
— Andrew Maclean (@AndrewMaclean_) March 19, 2022
Celtic started with a strong line up with the only two differences from last Monday’s win over Dundee United being Rogic replacing O’Riley and Jota coming in for James Forrest. Right from kick-off it was apparent that the home side were up for this one. The tempo that had been a joy to watch earlier in the season was back as Celtic zipped the ball around at pace, players taking one or two touches before relaying the ball onto a teammate who did likewise. Ross County looked bewildered as they struggled to match the pace set by the Celtic players.
It looked like only a matter of time before Celtic opened the scoring and surely enough it arrived in the eleventh minute courtesy of the man in red-hot goalscoring form at the moment, Giorgos Giakoumakis. The Greek striker seems to be on the end of everything at the moment and this time he finished a wonderful cross from Jota, who looks to be back to his best form after a quiet spell.
It wasn’t long until last season’s Eredivisie top scorer was at it again, as six minutes later another Jota cross led to the second, Daizen Maeda doing brilliantly to nod the ball back into the six-yard box, where Giakoumakis had his first header cleared off the line by a Ross County defender but made no mistake from the rebound. Even at this early stage of the contest it looked like it would take something drastic for Ross County to get back into it, Celtic just didn’t look like presenting them any opportunities to get back into the game.
Then, with just over a quarter of the game gone, it really was game over for Ross County as Daizen Maeda linked up once more with his attacking partners to score the third goal of the game. A Jota corner was knocked down by Giakoumakis and Japan international Maeda prodded the ball into the net. At this point it did feel like Celtic could be on their way to racking up a cricket score and that notion was further increased when Kayne Ramsey got a straight red for a bad tackle on Tom Rogic.
The Australian had to leave the pitch afterwards due to injury. Hopefully it will be nothing serious but this one is definitely on referee Don Robertson. Not for the first time this season he let the opposition away Scot-free with bad tackles on our players which ultimately leads to the players believing they can get away with anything and upping the ante. Ramsey should have been in the book earlier but due to Robertson’s laissez-faire attitude, he probably felt he could continue in the same vein. If he was already on a warning he may have thought twice about that second challenge.
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The referee also missed two clear handballs which should have resulted in penalties for Celtic, when it happened yet again for a third time during the match in the second half even the inept Robertson could no longer pretend he missed it. Juranovic, our number one penalty taker had the ball in his hands but unselfishly handed it to teammate Giakoumakis, presenting him with the opportunity to complete his hat-trick. The Greek striker calmly slotted the penalty home, sending the keeper the wrong way and in the process banishing the memory of that missed penalty against Livingston all those months ago.
Celtic could have scored plenty more during this game, the sending off strangely seeming to work against the home side as Ross County sat in and defended the rest of the game and with the man advantage Celtic themselves seemed to take the foot off the pedal. It did present manager Ange Postecoglou with the opportunity to rest players while giving others the opportunity to get some game time.
The biggest cheer of the match was when David Turnbull entered the fray after a long lay off due to injury. Today’s game was the perfect opportunity to ease him back in when the pressure was completely off.
Again a lot of the plaudits have to go to our big Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis. I have never once wavered from my belief that Giakoumakis would prove a success at Parkhead. It was clear during the first half of the season that the former VVV-Venlo player was struggling for fitness, mainly due to not having a proper pre-season, but it was clear there was a player there.
People compared him at times to the likes of Amido Balde and Vakoun Bayo which was ridiculous, you don’t become top goalscorer in Holland without being a top player.
It’s been a long time since we have had a player in his mould leading the line of our attack. Not only is he a natural poacher, he offers so much more. He’s a real presence in the area, a nuisance to defenders who also puts a lot of work in for the team during games. You can see his confidence growing as he becomes a hugely important part of this Celtic squad.
A mention also for Daizen Maeda who, as always, put in a tremendous shift today. I have said in the past that I would like to see him get more goals and I was really happy to see all his hard work pay off today. He offers a lot to the team and his work rate is fantastic, the energy levels he produces really are unbelievable.
I was delighted to see Celtic back playing the type of football that manager Ange Postecoglou demands. With our injuries all clearing up and ‘Angeball’ back in full swing we are looking strong as we head into a crucial run of games. Hopefully the international break won’t harm our momentum, because if we can maintain the same sort of intensity we showed today I have no doubt we will easily take care of our city rivals at the start of April. It’s a game I’m thoroughly looking forward to.
Conall McGinty
Fantastic performance today exactly what we needed to keep the pressure on them for tomorrow. No signs of nerves or jitters from the players or the fans. Regardless of what happens tomorrow at dens we know we have the players and the confidence to go to ibrox in two weeks time and beat them.