On a day when Celtic struggled to assert their dominance amid resolute Highland opposition, ALISTAIR JOHNSTON emerged as the surprising winner at Parkhead.
After their closest rivals from Ibrox defeated St Mirren 1-0 in Paisley earlier in the day, the defender scored his first goal of the year to ensure the champions kept their five-point lead at the top of the Premiership.
As Brendan Rodgers observed his team making a lot of trouble for themselves, his nerves were not eased by Luis Palma’s spectacular double miss from the penalty spot.
There were some tense moments as the timer ran out since it was the kind of match when the hosts were unable to defeat County.
Although it wasn’t a stellar performance, Celtic will take the three points and put some improvement into their finishing before playing Aberdeen at Pittodrie one week from now.
Johnston gave the home team a quick advantage in the first minute. The only goal the Canadian World Cup right-back has scored for the Hoops came in a 5-1 victory against St Mirren in Paisley in March. He scored after Liel Abada’s shot bounced into the defender’s path on the edge of the box.
Johnston struck the ball goalwards, and it spiraled past the hapless George Wickens, the Fulham loanee goalkeeper, low to his left-hand post after a cunning deflection off a County defender.
The Israeli winger, who was starting the game for the first time after replacing the injured Greg Taylor, was moving onto a pass from Alexandro Bernabei when VAR intervened to see if he was onside.
Before referee Euan Anderson indicated a goal by pointing to the center circle, there was the typical pause.
When it appeared as though Paulo Bernardo couldn’t miss in the 19th minute, the fans should have been celebrating a second goal. Instead, he fired high over the bar.
Matt O’Riley attempted a drive, and Wickens dived brilliantly to his left to block it, but the ball went right to the Portuguese star, who was positioned almost exactly on the penalty spot. The rebound should have been tucked away by him.
But at the critical moment of impact, he lost concentration and skied his right-foot attempt far off target.
When Palma managed to waste TWO penalty kicks, there was double the drama!
After Simon Murray flattened Callum McGregor in the 24th minute, the Honduran player came up to accept the stick-on spot-kick award.
The winger hit the ball to the keeper’s right, and to his horror, the rookie number one quickly went down to knock the ball away.
After analyzing the play, VAR determined that the English goalie had veered from his line just before Palma struck the ball and ordered a retake.
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