Celtic’s only disappointment from their win at Ross County is the fact that they conceded.
It just goes to show how well Celtic are performing that the only negative is not walking away with a clean sheet.
But that’s how dominant the champions are right now, as Celtic’s 4-1 win at Ross County, at the time, put them 18 points clear at the top of the Premiership table.
Kyogo Furuhashi netted a brace, in his new role, whilst Arne Engels, from the penalty spot, and Luke McCowan from the bench, also got on the scoresheet in stoppage-time.
Even though Celtic deserved the win, it wasn’t until the final ten minutes that the team got the rewards for their performance.
That’s because Alistair Johnston gave away a penalty at the start of the second half and it just made life more difficult for the away side.
Chris Sutton critical of Alistair Johnston and Alex Valle
Johnston is Celtic’s starting right-back, but on-loan Barcelona star Alex Valle is playing second fiddle to Greg Taylor at left-back.
The Spanish star was handed a chance to start at Dingwall, but Sutton wasn’t impressed by his ‘lazy’ defending.
The former striker thinks that Valle could have done far better to stop the cross that eventually resulted in a penalty being awarded when Johnston pushed over his man.
Sutton didn’t argue against the penalty being awarded and claimed that Rodgers would have been ‘disappointed’ with the duo, as he told Sky Sports Football (11/01/25 at 2:50 pm).
“They just had a spell of pressure against Celtic,” said Sutton. “I think Valle has to work harder to stop the cross (which led to the penalty).
“I think Alistair Johnston was very honest in the interview. There is a little nudge there. Phillips gets across him. Phillips actually looked quite lively when he came on. No complaints about the penalty.
“It’s lazy defending by Valle and Alistair Johnston. I think Brendan Rodgers would have been disappointed with the penalty.
Celtic’s defensive record this season
Kasper Schmeichel replaced Joe Hart in the summer and he has made an outstanding start to life in Glasgow.
The Denmark international already has one trophy to his name and it won’t be too long before he can add the title to his cabinet.
In the Premiership alone, from 22 matches, he has kept 17 clean sheets.
