A KYOGO Furuhashi double helped clinch a hard-fought victory for Celtic against Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium this afternoon and send the Scottish champions 18 points clear of their city rivals Rangers at the top of the William Hill Premiership.
Celtic needed two late goals from Alistair Johnston and Nicolas Kuhn to snatch a 2-1 triumph and maintain their winning start to the season on their last visit to the Highlands back in October.
Brendan Rodgers’ men were once again made to work for their three points against Don Cowie’s charges today. They dominated the first half of the match and deservedly took the lead through Furuhashi.
However, substitute Jordan White levelled with a penalty after half-time and the travelling supporters who had made the long journey north had to endure some nervous moments before Furuhashi restored their advantage.
Arne Engels put the result beyond doubt from the spot in injury-time after a VAR check showed that County goalkeeper Jordan Amissah, the winner of the Man of the Match award, had moved off his line before he saved his initial effort. Luke McCowan had soon added a fourth.
Here are five talking points from events in Dingwall.
Fantastic Furuhashi
Injuries to Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda meant that Rodgers was forced to deploy centre forward Furuhashi wide on the right and move Yang Hyeon-jun to the left in his 4-1-4-1 formation.
Rodgers stressed that his third top goalscorer would not be operating as an out-and-out winger when he spoke to BBC Radio Scotland before kick-off.
“He won't be on the outside all the time because that's not the profile of a player he is,” he said. “He's not a one-v-one player that goes past people that way. He more links from the inside.”
Sure enough, the £4.5m man drifted into the centre of the par as much as he hugged the touchline. He was perfectly positioned to break the deadlock five minutes before half-time when Johnston played a diagonal into the opposition area. He got the slightest of touches.
He took his tally for this term to 12 with 10 minutes remaining when he got on the end of an Arne Engels cross and headed into the top corner. His second ultimately sewed up the three points. Not bad for a guy who was playing out of position.
The MLS has mistakenly announced the Japanese internationalist had signed for Atlanta United earlier this week. It was an error which they quickly corrected and apologised for. But the bizarre episode did not affect him.
Idah draws a blank
A third consecutive start up front for Idah gave the Republic of Ireland internationalist another chance to end a scoring drought that stretched back to the 5-0 triumph over County at Parkhead at the end of November.
The 6ft 3in 23-year-old had been on target on eight occasions going into the match in Dingwall – a fair return for a player who has spent most of the 2024/25 campaign as understudy to Furuhashi.
However, the £9.5m striker had failed to net against St Mirren and Dundee United after being preferred to his club mate and went into the encounter knowing he had to begin pitching in.
The former Norwich City man hit the side netting early on, did well to set up Alistair Johnston with a shot soon afterwards and nodded a Callum McGregor cross down to Furuhashi in the six yard box.
The player who endeared himself to Celtic fans forever when he scored a last-minute winner against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final last season was unfortunate not to double the visitors’ tally just before half-time with a cheeky back heel.
Idah worked hard and produced a decent all-round showing. He has, though, to start finding the net with greater regularity.
County run ends
The hosts went into this meeting with the defending champions and runaway leaders on the back of an unprecedented spell of form – they had won three top flight away games in a row for the first time in their history and had gone four undefeated in total.
But Connor Randall and his team mates spent long spells of the match camped in their own half defending.
Noah Chilvers fired wide in the first half after Auston Trusty, who was once again preferred to Liam Scales alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers at centre-half, had lost possession just outside his area. Kasper Schmeichel, though, was otherwise untroubled.
At the other end of the park, his opposite number Jordan Amissah was far busier. He did brilliantly to deny Idah and Furuhashi in the first half and Yang in the second. The German goalkeeper kept the scoreline respectable and his side in touch.
Cowie made what proved to be an inspired double substitution at half-time – he took off Ronan Hale and Noah Kenneh and put on Kieran Phillips and Jordan White and the replacements won and converted a spot kick respectively.
Referee Matthew MacDermid ruled that Johnston had shoved English Phillips over as the debutant, who was signed from Huddersfield Town on Monday, as he challenged for the ball in the six yard box.
VAR official Greg Aitken checked that it was a foul and that the attacker had not been in an offside position when the delivery was played in and the call stood. White stepped forward and levelled.
County were, though, unable to hold on. When MacDermid decided that James Brown had brought down Yang in the penalty box after watching a replay of the incident on his pitchside monitor their hopes of salvaging a result were dashed.
Kenny debut
Republic of Ireland Under-21 internationalist Johnny Kenny has impressed during loan spells at Shamrock Rovers in his homeland during the past two seasons and Rodgers clearly felt the youngster could give Celtic the cutting edge they were lacking in the final third.
He made a double substitution following the equaliser and put on Kenny for Idah and Luke McCowan for Reo Hatate. The 21-year-old got an attempt on target during his time on the park. He will take confidence from making his first appearance for the Glasgow giants and will be keen to feature more going forward.
Pitch battle
The undersoil heating at the Global Energy Stadium ensured the playing surface withstood the sub-zero temperatures which had caused the postponement of so many game across the country.
However, the conditions underfoot, in the goalmouths in particular, were far from ideal. Both sides deserve credit for creating such an entertaining spectacle for the 6,254-strong crowd to enjoy.
