Celtic 4-0 Ross County: Midfielder steals the show as Dembele returns
By James Black
Celtic strolled to victory against Ross County 4-0 at Parkhead as star man Moussa Dembele returned to action – but it was James Forrest who stole the show with a second-half double.
Brendan Rodgers made five changes to the side that lost 5-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in midweek with Dembele, Johnny Hayes, Nir Bitton, James Forrest and Tom Rogic all coming in.
It was Rogic who opened the scoring for the Hoops after 19 minutes when his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection and beat County’s Aaron McCarey in goal.
The Scottish champions kept up the pressure in the first-half as they looked to double their advantage and Dembele made it 2-0 just before the break.
The Frenchman fired one in from distance after 41 minutes as he made his comeback from injury.
Dembele completed an hour as Brendan Rodgers’ side prepared for the trip to Ibrox next weekend and the return of such a key player will be a huge boost.
Early in the second-half, midfielder James Forrest made it 3-0 to the Hoops when he followed up on Rogic’s effort and smashed the ball past McCarey.
Forrest got his second of the afternoon with fifteen minutes left when he cut inside the Ross County defence and fired low beyond the visiting goalkeeper.
Brendan Rodgers’ side continued to push forward and Scott Sinclair went close to affing a fifth goal on the 83rd minute but McCarey saved well at point-blank range.
A 4-0 win is the ideal reaction to the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain with important games against Rangers and Anderlecht coming up.
In other Celtic news, fans reacted to Moussa Dembele’s return to the Celtic starting XI.
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