Soccer-Celtic open title defence with easy win

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Scottish champions Celtic began the defence of their Premier League crown with a straightforward 2-0 home win over Ross County in Saturday's season-opening early fixture. Goals by striker Leigh Griffiths with a fourth-minute penalty and Norwegian international midfielder Stefan Johansen half an hour later put the hosts in command in front of a 45,197 crowd at Celtic Park. Seeking their fifth title win in a row, Celtic slipped into early cruise control, but then survived a few difficult moments as County fought back. Those included a controversial incident when Celtic keeper Craig Gordon was shown only a yellow card when, as the final defender, he brought down Jackson Irvine outside the penalty area in a last-ditch challenge. Celtic also suffered a setback when Scottish international Griffiths, their top scorer last season, limped off with an ankle injury that may make him doubtful for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against Qarabag in Azerbaijan on Wednesday. Celtic will defend a 1-0 lead in that tie. A clumsy challenge by Ross captain Andrew Davies on Griffiths produced the early penalty and the defender was also injured in the incident. Celtic extended their record of not having lost a match on the opening day of the season since 1997. (Reporting by Tim Collings)