Celtic restore lead with win over Ross County

The ball struck the arm of Alex Iacovitti (right) as he challenged Cameron Carter-Vickers

Celtic restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership by overcoming lively Ross County.

That forced Malky Mackay's side to attack in a second 45 minutes during which both sides had chances.

With County down to 10 men following a Ross Callachan injury, Alexandro Bernabei fired a late settler.

It means that Ange Postecoglou's side head into Saturday's derby at home to second-top Rangers with 15 consecutive victories since the Glasgow rivals drew at Ibrox at the start of January.

An eighth consecutive defeat at the hands of Celtic leaves County second bottom of the table, four points adrift of Kilmarnock.

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• Reaction & as it happened

Both manager handed surprise first starts to otherwise settled sides and, with captain Keith Watson only ruled fit enough for the bench, Mackay drafted 16-year-old Dylan Smith into the middle of defence.

It was no surprise that the tall teenager, fresh from Scotland Under-17 duty, was quickly at the heart of action as Celtic assumed their expected domination of possession.

As Smith displayed an assurance beyond his years, Tomoki Iwata was controlling play in his direction after the on-loan Yokohama F Marinos midfielder was brought in to replace injured fellow Japan international Reo Hatate and with captain Callum McGregor pushed further forward.

The expected Celtic onslaught failed to materialise and, although a blistering Greg Taylor drive struck the outside of the far post, it was not until a moment of County misfortune that the breakthrough came.

With Mackay already heading down the tunnel expecting to deliver a satisfied half-time team talk, referee Willie Collum was told to check a hand ball by Iacovitti as he challenged rival centre-half Carter-Vickers.

Jota dispatched the resulting spot kick powerfully down the middle to change the tone in both dressing-rooms.

Whatever was said transformed the game into an end-to-end affair, with on-loan Wigan Athletic midfielder Gwion Edwards' low drive just wide at last providing a home threat before Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart had to claw away a George Harmon header.

Kyogo Furuhashi fired wide with only Ross Laidlaw to beat, the goalkeeper produced a fine double save to deny replacement striker Oh Hyeon-gyu, who also fired just wide, while a Jota strike hit the underside of the bar.

However, it was not until Bernabei thunderbolt's found the net deep into stoppage time that Celtic fans could breath easily.

Player of the match - Tomoki Iwata (Celtic)

Midfielder Tomoki Iwata (left) was given his first Celtic and start and confidently sprayed passes about as if he was a mainstay.

More to follow.

What's next?

Celtic host Rangers in a first versus second derby showdown on Saturday (12:30 BST), while Ross County travel to face St Johnstone that afternoon (15:00).