ANTHONY Ralston's 97th-minute header gave Celtic a vital victory against Ross County in Dingwall.
Jack Baldwin's leveller and Carl Starfelt getting his marching orders meant Liel Abada's opener looked to be rendered virtually meaningless until Ralston's intervention kept Celtic four points off the top in the Premiership.
Ange Postecoglou made three changes from the weekend triumph over Motherwell, with Liam Scales, Adam Montgomery and Ralston coming in for Greg Taylor, James Forrest and Tom Rogic.
That meant a return to midfield for David Turnbull and a stint at centre forward for Abada.
Here, The Celtic Way looks at the StatsBomb data from the game to give you a match report experience like no other.
Trendline
As notable as their own periods of creativity was Celtic's restriction of Ross County to 55 minutes of impotence. When that spell was eventually broken - via a left-footed Dominic Samuel attempt from a throw-in - it brought with it the equalising goal just 60 seconds later.
While the introduction of a physical focal point in Jordan White directly before those chances did ruffle some Celtic feathers, it must be said the goal itself owed more to the Hoops' own defending than anything else.
Indeed, despite the confidence boost the Staggies did not muster any decent-quality attempts for more than 20 minutes afterwards. By that time, Starfelt had been sent off leaving the visitors at a one-man disadvantage.
To Celtic's credit, that numerical superiority did not shine through in general play. While County did get off five attempts after the Swede's red card they were all of low quality and the Hoops still garnered almost double that, including Ralston's 0.30 xG-rated winner.
Shots
Given what we've just said, it's no surprise County's shot map is a relatively bare looking one. Celtic's, while packed with 25 attempts, is particularly sparse in close, central shots. Seventeen of the Hoops' attempts were outside the box with only three of those on target (all saved by Ashley Maynard-Brewer).
Abada's goal was rated the best chance of the game (0.68 xG) while the Israeli's counter-attacking chance on the half-hour - when he rounded the keeper - was statistically second-best (0.42 xG) despite the presence of the covering defender.
Nir Bitton was the single most regular shooter with seven attempts, although those accumulated a combined xG of just 0.25.
Possession, passing and positions
On the fact of it, this is a pretty standard-looking Celtic pass network/average positions map. Where it feels notable, however, is in Abada's presence as a focal point compared to that of David Turnbull during his stint up front in the win over Motherwell.
That changed slightly in the second half when Owen Moffat came on for his debut and frequented more central areas - and Celtic did lose their shape slightly in periods after the break - but overall the makeshift XI worked to a decent degree under the circumstances.
Turnbull, on his return to midfield, predictably topped the charts for individual key passes with four, although three of those were from set-pieces and both Tom Rogic and Josip Juranovic's pair were considered more statistically 'creative'.
Despite taking a small number of touches (68) compared to most of his team-mates, Abada topped the xGChain just ahead of Callum McGregor in a performance where Celtic dominated the ball to the tune of 75 per cent possession and over 600 successful passes.
Pressing
The more intense play took place on the Celtic right flank but it is worth noting County's pressure frequency heatmap also shows deeper forays down the left, where Liam Scales had his hands full with the pace on Joseph Hungbo.
That said, the Hoops also pressed higher on the left wing and it is no shock therefore that both Adam Montgomery and Scales were in the top four of away players for pressures.
Turnbull was the 'leading' presser in the team with 14 but in truth this was not an example of an effective pressing game from Celtic, which is perhaps natural given their injury worries.
Of the 12 outfield players used, there were a combined 27 pressured action fails from 92 attempted (around 30 per cent failed, which is around three times that of the recent away-day win at Dundee United and double the home win over Hearts).
It's worth pointing out County don't keep the ball particularly well - just 61 per cent pass success - so this isn't necessarily a case of the opposition passing round them efficiently.
For comparison, the Staggies' 14 outfielders combined for just nine fails from 206 pressures. It must be said, however, that while the Highlanders embarked on an ambitious high press early in the game it ultimately did not pay off.
In terms of counter-pressing, captain McGregor led the way followed by Bitton, Montgomery and Turnbull.
Defending
Overall Celtic won 10 of 14 attempted tackles while, individually, Scales won two tackles, made three interceptions but won just 25 per cent of his aerial duels. On the opposite flank, Ralston matches the Irishman's interception success while adding five aerial wins and a pair of clearances.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, meanwhile, showed his usual aerial prowess with six wins (75 per cent) while marrying that to five clearances, a tackle and an interception.
Despite his ostensibly deep-lying midfield position, Bitton not only took the most shots but was the only player who was not beaten in the air, or dribbled past on the ground. The Israeli teamed those numbers with a couple of tackles and a clearance as well to give Postecoglou a potential selection dilemma for Sunday's cup final.
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