Celtic turned on the style at home on Saturday, as they eased to a 5-0 win over Ross County in 45 devastating first-half minutes. 

Indeed, Brendan Rodgers’ rotated side were up by five at half-time, thanks to goals from Liam Scales, Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor and Adam Idah. Though they had more chances to further increase their healthy lead over Don Cowie’s side, Idah’s fifth just before the break would signal an end to the goalscoring action. 

Thanks to results elsewhere on Sunday, Celtic moved four points clear of Aberdeen – who they play next – with a game in hand, as well as 11 points ahead of Rangers, who won in Perth versus St Johnstone. A successful weekend for Rodgers and his players.

Using StatsBomb data, metrics and analytics, The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay brings you a match report unlike any other…

Match stats + race chart

As you would expect, Celtic’s stats make for pretty good reading if you are that way inclined. With 75 per cent possession, 26 shots – nine on target, 833 passes (723 completed) and 87 per cent pass completion, it was a good day at the office for the champions. 

Ending up with a cumulative xG of 2.43 despite scoring five goals, Celtic outperformed in front of goal, which was down to supreme finishing and scoring from challenging angles and chances during this game. Thanks to this, the race chart gave the home side a 93 per cent chance of coming out on top, with a draw next-highest at just six per cent. Ross County were given just a single per cent chance of coming out on top in this one.

Formation + passing

As mentioned previously, this was a rotated Celtic side. Kasper Schmeichel remained in goals, though Alex Valle replaced Greg Taylor at left-back for this one. Scales got in ahead of Auston Trusty, while Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston retained their respective spots after Club Brugge last Wednesday. In the midfield, captain McGregor was joined by Bernardo and McCowan, while Idah led the line – supported by Maeda and James Forrest on the left and right wing.

When looking at the passing network graphic concerning OBV (on-ball value), it was a far better showing by Celtic with their distribution of the ba;l compared to Wednesday night. In this particular metric, Scales, McCowan and Maeda were standouts – as shown by their warm circles – as well as Carter-Vickers in defence. 

Maeda was Celtic’s top-performing OBV contributor, despite coming off at half-time! Indeed, his 15 passes scored him 0.35, while McCowan and Scales had 0.28 and 0.23 respectively for their efforts. Celtic were well-connected – particularly in the first-half of proceedings on Saturday.

Perhaps the most eye-catching stat from the weekend came from McCowan, who managed an incredible EIGHT key passes for Celtic. Hardly surprising, as the midfielder helped himself to three assists on the day. Elsewhere, Maeda helped himself to three, while Taylor, Arne Engels and Bernardo each had two. 

Shooting

With 26 shots at goal, Celtic were well worth their 5-0 victory, though it could – and probably should – have been more. 

Looking at the shot map, Ross County must be credited for the way they defended their box, despite being on the end of a comprehensive beating. The grey shapes signify blocked shots, so Cowie’s team did do a power of defending despite their tough afternoon. The lack of warm shapes indicate how well Celtic took their difficult chances, with only Valle’s second-half shot registering anything near a high-xG opportunity – which was well saved by sub goalkeeper Jack Hamilton.

Let’s start with the opener, which came in the 10th minute of the contest. Direct from a corner, McCowan delivered an accurate ball into Ross County’s busy box, which was headed in by the returning Scales. Though Ross Laidlaw got a touch on the ball – as did the crossbar – the header was too good, with 0.14 in xG rising to 0.45 in PSxG following Scales’ contact.

Though McCowan’s creativity was heralded by many after the game, he got on the scoresheet, too. From scorer to provider, Scales lofted an exquisite pass into the direction of the midfielder, whose first touch was a thing of beauty. Aided by a slight deflection off of Elijah Campbell, his 0.09 xG shot evaded Laidlaw, which resulted in 0.79 in PSxG – again, due to Campbell’s touch.

Following Bernardo’s well-taken goal (0.27 to 0.82 in xG-PSxG), McGregor would contribute yet another goal to his growing screamer highlight reel this season. Receiving the ball from McCowan, McGregor took a couple of touches to set himself, before unleashing an unstoppable strike past Laidlaw. The shot’s difficulty is shown in it's 0.03 xG score, which rose to 0.27. Goals like these are fast becoming the captain’s specialty in this campaign.

Despite McGregor’s goal being the furthest from goal, there is an argument to suggest that Idah bettered the captain’s strike with the fifth goal of the afternoon. Channelling his inner Odsonne Edouard, Idah nutmegged his marker before side-footing the ball with pace from just outside the box, leaving Laidlaw again with no chance of getting anywhere near it. 0.11 to 0.26, Idah scored his third goal in his last two games – a man who looks to be back in top form.

Idah was Celtic’s top shooter on the day with seven in total. Forrest had four, while Bernardo and Scales managed three. Valle managed two from the left-back position.

Pressing + Defending

Despite having more of the ball, Celtic also managed more pressures than Ross County, as a difference of 156-138, also regaining the ball through pressures more at a rate of 37-26. Idah was his side’s top presser with 22, while McCowan had 21. In counterpressures, the Irishman also shined with seven, while the latter had five alongside Bernardo.

Concerning combined tackles and interceptions, Celtic’s Valle and McCowan were joint-top with three each. Scales had a standout game with 18 combined clearances and aerial wins – arguably Celtic’s standout defender on the day. Carter-Vickers also won five aerial battles for his side.

Final thoughts

It was a good weekend for Celtic, who gained two more points of an advantage over  Aberdeen at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Not just that, the style Rodgers’ side displayed on Saturday would have been ominous for the rest of the league to witness – particularly their opponents on Wednesday. 

Speaking of Wednesday, the champions have the opportunity to essentially put one hand on retaining their league title with a win at Pittodrie. Taking into account both teams’ respective forms, you would not put it past Rodgers and his squad to come out on top once again in Aberdeen. Seven points with a game in hand over the Dons could signal curtains for any talk of a ‘title race’, in all honesty.

The signs look good for another successful domestic season for Rodgers and Celtic.