By Callum McFadden at St Mirren Park.
Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side made it five wins from five in the Scottish Premiership as they defeated second-place side St Mirren by two goals to one in Paisley.
Celtic controlled possession from the opening stages, but St Mirren showed a willingness to play their own game, attempting to build from the back rather than simply surrender territory to their visitors.
That approach almost proved costly in the 15th minute when goalkeeper Jacob Chapman played a slack pass straight into the path of Camilo Duran. The Celtic forward seized on the opportunity, but his low, driven effort was kept out by a relieved Chapman.
St Mirren responded positively and soon threatened at the other end. Declan John forced Viljami Sinisalo into action, with the Celtic goalkeeper parrying his effort behind for a corner.
The resulting set-piece brought the game’s decisive early moment.
A Celtic clearance dropped to Chris Mochrie on the edge of the penalty area, where his subsequent effort struck Liam Scales’ hand. The referee awarded St Mirren a penalty, although there was a delay while VAR checked the incident before the decision was eventually confirmed.
Nikolas Agrafiotis showed no signs of being affected by the interruption. When finally given the opportunity, he emphatically smashed the penalty beyond Sinisalo in the 22nd minute to hand the Buddies the lead.
The Buddies survived a major scare seven minutes later when Celtic thought they had found an immediate route back into the contest. Yang’s chipped effort was turned home by Camilo Duran, but VAR intervened to rule the goal out, with the Colombian striker adjudged to have been offside by the tightest of margins.
Celtic continued to press for an equaliser as half-time approached, with captain Callum McGregor the next to test Chapman. His effort, struck firmly into the turf, threatened to bounce beyond the St Mirren goalkeeper, but Chapman reacted well to parry the ball over the crossbar and preserve his side’s advantage heading into the interval.
Here’s a more polished version with greater intensity and match-report flow:
Celtic emerged for the second half with a renewed sense of urgency and intensity, determined to force their way back into the contest, and they did not have to wait long for their pressure to tell.
Six minutes after the restart, Benjamin Nygren’s inswinging corner found Liam Scales, who powered a bullet header beyond the helpless Chapman and into the net to haul Celtic level.
Yang then put Celtic ahead in the 68th minute with a devastating counter-attacking goal. Duran’s perfectly weighted pass released the Korean winger through on goal, and with the St Mirren defence unable to match his pace in pursuit, he showed impressive composure to coolly guide his finish beyond Chapman.
St Mirren substitute Luke Thomas almost made an immediate impact in the Buddies’ search for an equaliser when Samuel Ramos played him through on goal, only for Sinisalo to produce an important save and turn his effort around the post for a corner.
St Mirren continued to push forward in the final ten minutes as they searched desperately for a way back into the contest, but Celtic’s defence held firm and Sinisalo remained composed whenever called upon to preserve his side’s advantage.
The victory ensures Celtic remain top of the Scottish Premiership with a perfect 15 points from their opening five matches, while St Mirren stay second on ten points after five games.
St Mirren: Chapman, Ramsay, Gogic, Fieldson, John, Nsio, Carr (Young, 84), Taylor (Ramos, 62) Kabia, Mochrie (Thomas, 69), Agrafiotis (Sule, 69)
Substitutes: Mullen, Richardson, Jackson, McEvoy, Ramos, Thomas, Farquhar, Young, Sule.
Celtic: Sinisalo, Donovan (Murray, 87), Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Scales, McGregor, Baur (Sorensen, 73), Nygren, Yang (Tounekti, 73), Hassan (Forrest, 73), Duran (Mheuka, 83)
Substitutes: Johnstone, Lotomba, Tounekti, Sorensen, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mheuka, Van den Berg, Murray, Forrest.
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