Celtic go into the World Cup break nine points clear at the top of the Premiership after a 2-1 victory over Ross County on Saturday.

A contentious penalty decision meant the Staggies took the lead through David Cancola but goals from David Turnbull and Sead Haksabanovic meant Ange Postecoglou's men took all three points.

The manager made six changes to his starting XI from the win over Motherwell in midweek.

Celtic Way:

Anthony Ralston, Moritz Jenz, Alexandro Bernabei, Daizen Maeda, Turnbull and Haksbanovic came in for Josip Juranovic, Carl Starfelt, Greg Taylor, Liel Abada, Aaron Mooy and Jota.

Starfelt was called into action after just 38 minutes when Jenz was forced off following a head knock. Giorgos Giakoumakis, Jota, Taylor and Abada also saw game-time from the bench.

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some of the key StatsBomb data from the game to give you a match report experience like no other.

xG/trendline

Celtic Way:

The xG race chart reflects a match almost totally dominated by Celtic in terms of shot attempts generated.

Postecoglou's men were fairly slow out of the blocks by not registering their first effort until the 12th minute but from there on in it was a procession of shots peppering Ross Laidlaw's goal as the staggered nature of the trendline reflects.

Conversely, County created two attempts in total with Jordan White's 21st-minute header followed by Concola's penalty shortly after half-time. That spot-kick - rated 0.78 xG - accounted for 91 per cent of the Staggies' cumulative total.

Celtic Way:

Statistically, the 'best' chance of the match from open play was the final one: Liel Abada's 95th-minute skewed left-footer.

StatsBomb records the final cumulative xG totals as 2.20-0.86 in the Parkhead side's favour. Additionally, our data provider estimates a 69 per cent chance of victory for the Hoops based on the respective opportunities created. The Staggies carried just an eight per cent chance.

Shots

Celtic Way:

Celtic had 23 attempts at goal - six more than in their 2-1 win over Motherwell last time out.

Twelve shots were taken inside the box and, of those, eight came in close, central areas.

Four attempts - including Turnbull's opening goal - were of mid-to-high-quality xG. Laidlaw made five saves during the game, with Postecoglou declaring his performance "outstanding" in his post-match interview.

The full breakdown of the 23 efforts was as follows: seven were on target, 11 missed and five were blocked. The post-shot xG for Celtic's shots on target measured just 1.17. 

Celtic Way:

After a particularly poor match in terms of getting efforts on target against Motherwell - 17.6 per cent, second-worst of the season - the Hoops almost doubled that at Parkhead despite the result being the same.

Of additional note is that Celtic reached double figures for attempts from 24 yards or further. In the 14 matches prior to facing the Staggies, they took an average of 3.3 from that distance or further per game.

The champions created 20 of their 23 attempts from open play with one coming via direct free-kick and the remaining two from corners.

Celtic Way:

As stated in the first section, County generated just two attempts of their own.

Both of these efforts came in the box but neither were from open play; the first, White's header, was from a free-kick while the second was the penalty from which they scored. Joe Hart saved White's attempt for his only action of the match.

Celtic Way:

For what is now the third match on the spin, Celtic's most active shooter did not find the net.

On this occasion it was Kyogo Furuhashi, whose five attempts did not produce a goal and combined for 0.46 xG. He followed Jota (five) against Motherwell and Giakoumakis (also five) against Dundee United.

Possession, passing & positions

Celtic Way:

The network gives a sense of where the game was played and who was most involved. The warmer the colour, the more influential the player, while the thicker the passing lines, the more passes between the players.

In StatsBomb's On-ball Value network, Bernabei and Hatate stand out. Both players topped the charts for OBV too (a fuller breakdown of which can be found here), with the Hatate in particular showing up well in that regard.

Cameron Carter-Vickers, for the third game running, was in the top three Celts for OBV.

Unsurprisingly given the nature of the game and the opposition, the majority of the Celtic outfielders spent most of their time in the Staggies half. Indeed, Celtic's shape more often resembled a 2-5-3 with Kyogo as a clear focal point.

Celtic Way:

If anything, this became more extreme as the match wore on. Looking at Celtic's first half network compared to the second half and (keeping in mind Taylor only played the final seven minutes) every outfield player except Starfelt was camped in the County half as the Hoops formed almost a great wall of attacking intent right across the final third.

Of the substitutes used, Abada shows up the best in terms of OBV contribution while Starfelt is notable when it comes to build-up involvement.

Carter-Vickers to Jenz - despite his early withdrawal - was the most common passing combination but the American to Starfelt was the most 'threatening' on the xGChain, which was ultimately topped by right-back Ralston.

Celtic Way:

County's network was ice-cold when it came to xGChain but one player stood out in terms of OBV. Midfielder Yan Dhanda's 0.19 was third behind only Hatate and Bernabei despite the Staggies showing very little creative threat for much of the game and the Indian registering a poor 40 per cent pass completion rate.

Celtic Way:

In terms of individual passing contributions, Hatate played five key passes. Haksabanovic followed him with three while Turnbull and Ralston racked up two apiece. Alex Iacovitti played County's only key pass.

Celtic had 73 per cent of possession while completing 88 per cent of their pass attempts (587 of 665). County registered 64 per cent pass success by completing 153 of 240 attempts.

Pressing and defending

Celtic Way:

Celtic Way:

Pressure heatmaps show where the match was played more intensely and give a sense of who was targeted. Celtic's left flank was their busiest on this occasion while, below, the Hoops counter-press was so high and prevalent right across the final third that the 'wall of attacking intent' from the pass network is reinforced yet further.

Celtic Way:

Underlining this is the fact Celtic matched County's pressures total (88) but regained the ball twice as often (24 vs 12).

Bernabei topped the home charts for pressures with 12, followed by Turnbull one further back, while Staggies midfielder Jordan Tillson (18) took the mantle match-wide.

Hatate was the game's most persistent counter-presser (four) while also topping the lot for total counter-pressing duration. 

Celtic Way: Alexandro Bernabei's defensive actions map against Ross CountyAlexandro Bernabei's defensive actions map against Ross County (Image: StatsBomb)

In addition to his significant pressing presence, Bernabei racked up five tackles, two clearances and two aerial wins during the game. 

O'Riley, meanwhile, put in another all-round display with his defensive contributions amounting to two tackles, two interceptions, four aerial wins and not being dribbled past for the concession of two fouls. Starfelt won the most aerial battles in the match with six.


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