Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic gave themselves an eight-point gap over rivals Rangers as they found a way past a stingy Ross County to get the win.
Ross County 0-3 Celtic
A red card early in the game did no favors for Ross County and Celtic made them pay as they found a way to break down their hosts to secure the win at Global Energy Stadium.
Cameron Carter-Vickers started for the Hoops and went the distance, completing 97 percent of his passes, winning five duels, and making one tackle while creating three chances and putting a shot on target.
Ross County would find themselves playing with 10 men after 10 minutes of play when the referee showed a red card to James Brown. The defender caught Yang Hyu-Jun with a nasty tackle just outside the 18-yard box. The referee had initially shown him a yellow card but following a review from the video assistant referee, it was changed to a red.
The hosts reverted to a more defensive posture that gave Celtic fits to crack. They finally did in first-half stoppage time when David Turnbull received the ball from Liam Scales to strike from distance.
Entering the second half, the visitors were again frustrated as they couldn’t find a way through Ross County’s defense. However, their persistence paid off when they doubled the lead in the 78th minute. Luis Palma sent the away supporters into rapturous cheers with a fantastic long-range strike.
James Forrest sealed the game five minutes later when connected on a cross from Palma to put the ball in the back of the net with a diving header.
The win leaves Celtic comfortably at the top of the standings with 32 points. Now, their focus turns to the Champions League as they head to Spain to face Atletico Madrid.
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