Ross County suffered a bruising afternoon in Glasgow’s East End as they went down 4-0 to Celtic at Parkhead.
The Hoops had the points virtually wrapped up from an early stage, following a double from Giorgios Giakoumakis and a Daizen Maeda goal within the opening 26 minutes. County were already into the realms of damage limitation by the time Kayne Ramsay was dismissed shortly afterwards.
Giakoumakis went on to secure his hat-trick from the spot after the break, to consign the Staggies to their heaviest defeat under Malky Mackay.
County will hope they can quickly regain momentum, having come into the game on the back of three straight victories – a feat they last achieved in the final stages of last season.
That sequence of results had moved the Staggies into the top six, but they now drop to seventh in the table.
Although the trip to Premiership pacesetters Celtic was always a difficult task, the defeat far from spells the end of their hopes of a first top-half finish since 2016 given they still have two matches remaining before the split – and remarkably remain only a point adrift of fifth place.
Malky Mackay went with the same side for the third straight match, which came as little surprise given their excellent form prior to a two-week break from action.
Prior to kick-off Parkhead united in a minute’s applause for former Hoops coach Frank Connor, who Mackay described as being a mentoring influence during his own playing stint in Glasgow’s east end.
The Hoops looked to get on the front foot in the early stages, with Jota the first to threaten with an angled drive which drifted narrowly over Ross Laidlaw’s crossbar.
County looked to threaten on the breakaway, however their gameplan had to be redrawn when they fell behind on 11 minutes. Laidlaw had initially done well to punch a corner clear, however the Hoops kept up the pressure, leading to Jota swinging in a delivery which Giakoumakis outjumped Alex Iacovitti to nod into the net at the far post.
The Staggies’ task was made even harder just seven minutes later, with a moment of ill-fortune putting them two behind. Josip Juranovic’s delivery from the right flank looked to have been headed home by Giakoumakis but for an excellent goal-line clearance by Jack Baldwin, however the ball fell kindly for the Greek attacker to guide home the rebound.
An excellent save from Laidlaw on 25 minutes was required to turn a Maeda header around the post following , before he got down to push a low Callum McGregor strike wide following the resulting corner.
There was to be no stopping Celtic from the subsequent set-piece however. Jota’s corner was nodded goalwards by Giakoumakis in pursuit of his hat-trick, with the effort fortuitously deflecting off Maeda to wrongfoot Laidlaw.
An ominous day looked in store for Mackay’s men and worse was to follow just shy of the half-hour mark, when Ramsay was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Tom Rogic. It prompted a reshuffle from the Staggies, with Keith Watson brought on to replace Joseph Hungbo, while Rogic was also forced off to be replaced by Matt O’Riley.
Laidlaw had to be alert to prevent the scoreline becoming worse before the interval, with a fine saves with his legs denying both Greg Taylor and Jota.
Celtic kept up the pressure in the second half in their pursuit of further goals, with Laidlaw forced to tip a Jota effort over the bar.
The Hoops netted a fourth goal just after the hour mark however, with Iacovitti penalised for handball as the Staggies attempted to clear a corner. Giakoumakis took on the spot-kick duties and calmly sent Laidlaw the wrong way to secure his hat-trick.
CELTIC (4-3-3) – Hart 6; Juranovic 7 (Ralston 62), Carter-Vickers 6, Starfelt 6, Taylor 6; Hatate 6 (Turnbull 74), McGregor 7 (Bitton 74), Rogic 6 (O’Riley 33); Maeda 7, Giakoumakis 8, Jota 8 (Abada 62). Subs not used – Bain, Bitton, Turnbull, McCarthy, Johnston, Ideguchi.
ROSS COUNTY (4-3-2-1) – Laidlaw 7; Ramsay 4, Baldwin 6, Iacovitti 6, Randall 6; Callachan 6, Tillson (Cancola 75) 6, H Paton 5 (Spittal 54); Hungbo 5 (Watson 32), Charles-Cook 6 (B Paton 75); White 6 (Burroughs 54). Subs not used – Munro, Vokins, D Samuel, Drysdale.
Referee – Don Robertson 6
Man of the match: Giorgios Giakoumakis
