In a thrilling match in the Scottish Premiership, Celtic managed a 2-1 victory over Ross County at Dingwall, marking their flawless beginning to the league season. The striking feat was accomplished by Nicolas Kuhn, who netted his sixth goal of the season, landing the decisive blow at the 88-minute mark. This victory followed a tough first half, with Ross County’s Ronan Hale becoming the first player to score against Celtic in the William Hill Premiership – a 43rd-minute penalty that was awarded after video review confirmed a handball offence by Liam Scales.
The champions, who had initially found it difficult to penetrate County’s defence, eventually succeeded when Alistair Johnston edged them forward with a 76th-minute corner. Kuhn, who had begun the season promisingly, then capped off the match by securing the win. The German player capitalised on a well-calculated pass from Johnston, beat one of County’s defenders and curled the ball beyond the far post.
Celtic, seeking to recover from a 7-1 loss against Borussia Dortmund, had brought in Alex Valle, Reo Hatate and Adam Idah for this match. Despite having the majority of ball possession in the first half, Celtic had the busier goalkeeper in Kasper Schmeichel. Interestingly, although Celtic dominated the early aspects of the game, creating definite opportunities proved challenging. This culminated in a crucial intervention by Elijah Campbell, who blocked Kuhn from connecting with Daizen Maeda’s pass.
Further threats came from Ross County, including a promising attempt from Noah Chilvers that came close from the rebound, and the visiting goalkeeper, Schmeichel, was kept on his toes with several saves, including two headers. Indeed, Celtic missed a significant chance when Maeda missed a free header from a Johnston cross in the first half.
The pivotal first-half event occurred when Kevin Clancy awarded a penalty after video assistant Nick Walsh confirmed that Michee Efete’s cross struck the arm of Scales in a raised position. Despite efforts by Schmeichel to distract Hale and obtrusive noises from Celtic’s travelling supporters, Hale scored the penalty, taking the ball past Schmeichel to his right.
When Clancy received word from the VAR headquarters that Celtic’s goalkeeper had overstepped his mark, he sanctioned a retake. Hale, a forward who had scored seven times in the 11 games since signing with Cliftonville, fired an unanswerable penalty into the far corner during the second attempt. Celtic experienced challenges both before and after half-time.
Schmeichel fumbled Nisbet’s kick, which barely missed the goal, and Hale nearly succeeded in lobbing the keeper from considerable distance. This came about after Johnston carelessly turned over possession to County near the halfway line. Hale’s aim surpassed the goalie but narrowly missed the net.
County continued to pose a threat to Celtic’s forwards. McGregor made an effort to seize control, breaking into the area only for his shot to stray marginally off the mark. The gloves were off for Ross Laidlaw after Maeda’s return pass to Hatate. Despite Efete’s diving tackle, Laidlaw was on hand to save the close-range attempt.
The arrival of Celtic substitutes injected some drive into the match, culminating in a productive turn of events following Paulo Bernardo’s corner kick. Kyogo Furuhashi’s deft touch was kept out by Laidlaw but it was McGregor’s follow-on shot, deflected by Johnston, that finally prevailed.
Celtic, fuelled by their success, pursued a decisive final goal. It came courtesy of Kuhn, who barely avoided a second booking after he stormed into the visiting supporters to revel in his triumph. He was already on thin ice following a heated exchange with Connor Randall.