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Leigh Griffiths scored his 30th goal of the season as Celtic moved three points clear at the top of the Premiership by beating Ross County.

Avenging their recent League Cup semi-final defeat, Celtic moved ahead when Griffiths volleyed home in first-half stoppage time.

Griffiths had earlier hit the post as a host of good openings were spurned.

The hosts doubled their lead when defender Dedryck Boyata stretched to head in a Stuart Armstrong cross.

Interviews - Deila and Mcintyre

Griffiths is the fastest player to score 30 goals for the club in a season since former Sweden striker Henrik Larsson.

Facing the same opponents who beat them at Hampden at the end of January, and with their title credentials under scrutiny, the win was a necessity for manager Ronny Deila and his, at times, nervy side.

Celtic failed to convert and ease the tension in the opening exchanges, with some of the loudest shouts prior to Griffiths' typically clinical strike being for over-hit passes by Stefan Johansen and Armstrong.

Johansen was useful more than he was wasteful, though. The Norwegian threaded several through-balls, but the finishing did not do them justice.

Gary Mackay-Steven watched his shot pushed round the post by Scott Fox , while Griffiths did the hard work by rounding the Ross County keeper before seeing his low effort bounce back off the near post and into his arms.

As Celtic fans cried "Challenge him", Ross County gradually tried to pile on the pressure, and Jackson Irvine presented a threat with an 18-yard shot.

Boyata connects with a Stuart Armstrong cross to head in Celtic's second goal

But just as Deila might have been wondering how to galvanise his players at the break, the left foot of Griffiths got the Parkhead side out of a hole.

Kieran Tierney's deep cross gave Chris Robertson problems and, under pressure from Johansen, the centre-back could only head into the path of the Scotland striker to score.

Home supporters thought Celtic had sealed the win midway through the second half when Boyata outmuscled Paul Quinn to head Armstrong's deep delivery high into the net. But there was a fright to come.

Erik Sviatchenko surrendered possession all too easily at the back, which let Michael Gardyne cross and almost set up Alex Schalk a tap in were it not for a desperate Nir Bitton clearance.

Near the jittery end, Jonathan Franks also made the Celtic back-line work hard as his rising shot had to be dealt with by a diving Craig Gordon.

Now it's over to nearest challengers Aberdeen to re-apply the pressure when they meet Inverness CT on Monday.