Celt's edge it

Inverness Caley Thistle fans could be forgiven for going into this match with a few nerves given our performance the last time we visited Glasgow.  However, this time we were on the other side of the City to play Celtic and ICT gave a great account of themselves.

Maloney scored the only goal of the game on 29 minutes to give the home side a win, and it is a little disappointing that Caley Jags failed to register a shot on goal but that was always going to be the risk this season when relying on unproven strikers. However, there are still a lot of plus points to be taken from the manner in which we conducted ourselves and managed to keep Celtic out of the game for long spells.

BBC Sport saw it like this:

Shaun Maloney fired the only goal of a tense game as Celtic overcame a stubborn Inverness side to move seven points clear at the top of the SPL.

Celtic struggled to break down a well-organised Inverness defence - much to the dismay of the home supporters.

Maloney broke the deadlock after 29 minutes when he collected a superb pass from Shunsuke Nakamura to fire home past Inverness goalkeeper Ryan Esson.

Doug Imrie went close with an audacious chip, but Celtic held on for victory.

The hosts seemed to struggle following their midweek exit and the fluency of their early season form was absent.

Inverness were content to sit deep and attempt to hit Celtic on the break.

Andreas Hinkel and Nakamura appeared the most likely players to carve out an opportunity.

And it was Nakamura who set up what proved to be the only goal of the game.

The Japanese international's clever diagonal found Maloney. and his low effort evaded the despairing grasp of Esson and found the corner of the net.

Five minutes after the break, Inverness were denied a great chance to equalise when midfielder Ian Black sent Garry Wood racing clear.

But Wood was ruled offside in what appeared to be a borderline decision.

Black then tested Boruc with a long drive, as the hosts' inability to score a second goal caused anxiety among the home support.

Scott McDonald blazed high over the bar late on as Celtic failed to double their lead, but recorded their 12th consecutive SPL victory.

Full Game