Misfiring Celtic edge past Ross County

Luis Palma twice missed a penalty as Celtic relied on Alistair Johnston's deflected first-minute strike to beat Ross County 1-0 in the Premiership.

Johnston’s first goal of the season looked set to open the floodgates but County responded well and on-loan Fulham goalkeeper George Wickens kept them in the game by denying Palma a second time from the spot following a retake.

The visitors hit the crossbar through Will Nightingale and the Celtic Park crowd endured a nervy finale as County finished strongly.

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It was job done for Celtic in the end as they restored their five-point lead in the cinch Premiership following Rangers’ 1-0 lunchtime win over St Mirren, but the final whistle was met with a mixture of cheers, jeers and relief after County twice came close in stoppage-time.

Callum McGregor returned from his extended winter break to make his 450th Celtic appearance, while Cameron Carter-Vickers was back from a hamstring injury to replace Maik Nawrocki.

A calf injury for Greg Taylor paved the way for Alexandro Bernabei to make his first start and only fifth appearance under Brendan Rodgers.

The left-back made his mark in the opening minute as his low cross found Liel Abada. The Israel international’s shot was blocked before falling for Johnston 18 yards out. The right-back’s strike (below) appeared to take a deflection off Nightingale before spinning over the line.

Without a win in their previous five games and on the back of a 3-0 cup defeat by Partick Thistle – which elicited another interview from manager Derek Adams which was unlikely to help team morale – the visitors might have been expected to fold.

But they responded with a decent spell of pressure of their own, although they should have been two down