Ross County were defeated 1-0 by Celtic at Victoria Park, with Leigh Griffiths’ free-kick the difference between the sides.
The Staggies performed well and caused the Hoops problems, however they were denied a point when Griffiths’ 78th minute strike beat Staggies goalkeeper Aaron McCarey.
County were fresh from an impressive 3-2 victory against Motherwell a fortnight previously, with Owen Coyle naming an unchanged starting line-up.
The Staggies made a bright start to the match and looked to trouble the visitors, with young winger Davis Keillor-Dunn at the heart of the threat. His first contribution came on four minutes when he slid a deft pass towards the run of Michael Gardyne, however it carried just too much weight.
Keillor-Dunn himself threatened on 14 minutes when he sent a shot over the bar from the edge of the box after being picked out by Craig Curran, while Celtic’s first meaningful chance came 10 minutes later when Callum McGregor went through on goal, only to be thwarted by Christopher Routis’ tackle.
Celtic came close three minutes into the second-half, when McGregor’s corner picked out Mikael Lustig, but he sent his near post effort into the side-netting, while County goalkeeper Aaron McCarey’s first save came on 55 minutes when he got low to clutch Moussa Dembele’s bending effort.
County had a decent flurry of pressure just after the hour mark, with Routis seeing his free-kick well held by Craig Gordon, before Gardyne picked out substitute Alex Schalk with an excellent pass, with the Dutchman’s first-time volley just wide of target.
The decisive moment came on 78 minutes however, when substitute Griffiths took aim with a set-piece from 25 yards which flew past the helpless McCarey into the top-left corner.
Celtic pushed for a second, with substitute Olivier Ntcham seeing his volleyed effort from the edge of the box come back off the post on 82 minutes, while Sinclair struck wide from close-range, however Griffiths’ goal was enough to secure the points.
