Ross County battle valiantly against Celtic but fall to defeat in Dingwall amid injury concerns for defender Kacper Lopata
Ross County pushed Celtic all the way at Dingwall, but finally came themselves on the wrong side of a 4-1 scoreline against the Glasgow giants.
Goals in either half from Kyogo Furuhashi sandwiched Jordan White’s penalty, which had restored parity in the game.
A late penalty of their own saw Celtic put the outcome beyond question late on, with Arne Engels scoring a retaken spot kick in stoppage time, while Luke McCowan placed the cherry on top with an even later score.
Jordan Amissah made a series of stops to hold Celtic at bay in the first half, while at the other end Noah Chilvers and Ronan Hale both squandered golden chances to strike the back of the goal.
However, five minutes before the intermission it was Kyogo Furuhashi who connected with an inch-perfect cross from Alistair Johnston to break the tie.
Staggies boss Don Cowie handed Kieran Phillips a club debut at half time, putting him on only days after joining from Huddersfield Town.
County received a further hit, however, as dominant center defender Kacper Lopata was forced out via injury inside 10 minutes of the resumption.
That pushed Cowie to make further forward changes, and the home side would draw back on equal terms when Jordan White converted from the penalty spot right on the hour mark.
Unfortunately for County, it was about as good as it got with Furuhashi once again finding the net with 10 minutes remaining to play, heading it past a despairing Amissah.
As the match moved into additional time, there was an intervention for VAR Greg Aitken to make as he deemed James Brown to have committed a foul within his own penalty area, but while Amissah originally saved from Arne Engels it was had to be retaken as the County goalie had stepped off his line.
The Belgian made no mistake the second time around, striking the bottom corner.
If there was any question, Celtic clinched all three points when Luke McCowan’s fast feet opened up a shooting chance inside the County box in the 98th minute, and he made no mistake to convert and make it 4-1.
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