How razor-sharp Celtic cut through sorry Staggies to make it 31 unbeaten

A Giorgos Giakoumakis hat-trick and Daizen Maeda's instinctive finish gave Ange Postecoglou's side a 4-0 win over Ross County at Parkhead.

The victory extended Celtic's unbeaten domestic run to 31 games and meant their recent good home form against the Highlanders moved to eight successive triumphs with an accompanying aggregate score of 27-0.

Postecoglou made two changes for the game, with Tom Rogic and Jota starting in place of Matt O'Riley and James Forrest. The match was also notable for the return of David Turnbull as a second-half substitute following a three-month injury lay-off.

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some of the key StatsBomb data from what could prove a pivotal game in the title run-in to give you a match report experience like no other.

xG/trendline

Celtic’s cumulative xG of 2.99 says they technically overperformed by scoring four times. County, meanwhile, neither threatened to score nor created enough to do so and their trendline is flat for prolonged periods of the game.

Giakoumakis’s penalty aside, the best chance statistically was the Greek’s opening header.

In terms of shots created, Celtic would have won the match 96 per cent of the time.

Shots

Celtic managed 24 shots. Nine were on target, eight were off target and seven were blocked. 

Sixteen of their attempts were manufactured inside the penalty area while Maeda's goal came from a corner, marking the fourth match in a row the Hoops have scored as a result of a set-piece. 

Individually, Maeda and McGregor were level with four shots apiece with Jota having one fewer attempt.

Giakoumakis's eight shots were double that of the next most prolific shooter Jota. Maeda and Callum McGregor followed with three apiece.

READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Giorgos Giakoumakis bags hat-trick to send Hoops six points clear at summit

County's only meaningful attempt was Jordan White's 41st-minute header from a corner, which was off target, with their other two shots from long-range blocked and saved respectively.

Possession, passing and positions

The overall pass network gives a flavour of how the Hoops set up, with the full-backs notably high even by Celtic's standards and McGregor's central role reinforced. The deep red labels denote the more influential players while the thicker the passing lines the more link-up between the players.

Celtic completed 708 of their 822 passes and registered 80 per cent possession. Individually, Carl Starfelt made the most open-play passes with 141 (89 per cent completion) while the Swede was involved in all five of the team's most common combinations and topped the xGChain too.

Jota led the way in key passes with four (three from set-pieces) with Reo Hatate and Maeda both registering three from open-play. Additionally, Matt O'Riley racked up the most passes into the opposition box with seven while Jota's 11 crosses were a match-high.

Impressively, 10 of the outfield players used throughout the match played at least one key pass during the 90 minutes.
Reo Hatate's key pass locations v County

Pressing and defending

Not the most intense of Celtic heatmaps this week but the left flank - unsurprisingly given it often contained Maeda and Taylor - saw the most action. The Japan international registered a game-high 18 pressures with an accompanying total in total pressure duration.

The team's counter-pressing heatmap (below) reinforces how high the Hoops pushed County even when dispossessed and, again, Maeda led the way in this regard.

Celtic's counter-pressure heatmap v County

Perhaps the biggest giveaway that the Staggies offered very little threat is that Hatate was the only Celt forced into making two tackles and no player in green and white had to make more than one interception.

Maeda's individual defensive actions map v County

Taylor, Maeda, Ralston and Hatate were not dribbled past while Starfelt's nine aerial duel wins were a game-high. Taylor and Giakoumakis's 67 per cent aerial success rate was the best among the Celts who won more than one.