Match Pictures | Matches: 2026 – 2027
Trivia
- KO: 20:00, Saturday, Sky Sports
- 1st v 2nd in the league, but Celtic victory keeps Celtic clear on top with 5 wins from 5, plus superior GD to all.
- Debut for Sorenson
- Yang scored winner but will now be lost away to join Korea for Asia Cup!
- Celtic had TWO goals given offside, but poor night for VAR as the lines couldn’t be drawn properly etc. Many convinced Duran goal should have stood, Mhueka one arguable but shambles for VAR.
- Scales the hero & villain, gave away a very silly penalty to St Mirren which baffled everyone, but then scored the equaliser from a great header and almost got a second headed goal a few mins later. Despite the penalty, he was still seen as having been a MoTM by some(!) despite playing out of position as left-back covering for Tierney out injured.
- Tierney & Hogh out injured/recovering from stomach bugs etc.
- Mheuka scores goal but the goal was ruled offside in very curious situation which saw the cameras unable to draw the lines to judge offside so the referee was called to the monitor to adjudge offside. It was a low point for VAR.
- The first time we’ve lost a throw in as we didn’t take it quickly enough as per the new rulings (v Scales).
- A rare Martin O’Neill wave to the away end and the team acknowledge the fans after hard-fought victory. Full version on YT has Mark Fotheringham do his thing too.
- Ex-Celt Hatate with an assist on his debut for his new club Burnley, so all the best to him, but they still lost 2-1 and are bottom of the second tier in England.
- No away supporters at derbies between Celtic & Rangers in SPFL competition for 2026/27 season, SPFL confirmed.
- Just weeks after leaving to join Racing Club de Lens, Maik Nawrocki ruled out for lengthy spell after suffering from a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament.
- Transfer window closed in the past week, Celtic spent £30m, but Sevco spent a Scottish record £35.5m!
Summary
FT: St Mirren 1-2 Celtic As Callum McGregor makes reference to, Celtic’s match-winner Yang Hyun-Jun is set to join up with South Korea tomorrow for the Asian Games. He has made an excellent start to the season and will be a big miss for Martin O’Neill’s side in the coming weeks.
Pat Bonner Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound Credit to St Mirren, they had a go. It’s great for a match to come to watch and see both sides having a go. Celtic played their normal Celtic style, but their tempo was really high tonight, and the players that came on from the bench kept that tempo up.
Trademark Scales’published at 21:16 BST 5 September 21:16 BST 5 September St Mirren 1-1 Celtic Pat Bonner Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound It’s trademark Scales. He makes that run, that early run across everybody to that near post and gets a really good header on the ball and gives the goalkeeper no chance. St Mirren need to be blocking that run, because you see it week in and week out when he plays. After his handball, he’ll be delighted to get a goal to get his team back in it.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill tells BBC Sportsound: “I’m delighted that we’ve won the game. “St Mirren played splendidly as we thought they would do and caused us loads of problems. “They got in front, we had a goal disallowed for offside which must have been very, very tight. We go in at half-time behind against a team that’s been in sparkling form, so I’m delighted that we won. “We didn’t quite have the fluency that we’ve shown in recent games, but delighted we’ve won. “On the break we were very dangerous, but we couldn’t put the game beyond St Mirren, there were some sparking moments from us. “We scored at an important moment too, we came out the second half and we looked as if we were dominant, but just couldn’t break them down and then suddenly we get the corner and score the goal, which gives us a major lift too. Overall though, we can improve.”
St Mirren manager Craig McLeish tells BBC Sportsound: “I’m proud of the players, the effort they gave and what they tried to do throughout the game. “The goals that we lose are disappointing from our point of view but Celtic had other chances and we knew they were going to cause us problems in different ways. “I thought the first half our defensive shape was excellent, we carried a threat on the break at times but could’ve just been better on the ball in the middle of the park, we turned it over too easily at times and caused our own problems. “In the second half it’s just the nature of the goals, they’ve not taken their best chances of the game, one is from a set play and the other is giving the ball away cheaply. “This group of boys never give up. Some of our best spells of play were after we go 2-1 down. We have to just continue to try to get better at what we are trying to do. “We have to dust ourselves down and go again on Wednesday night and try to take as many points from that game as we can.”
Two of Celtic’s key performers have been giving their reaction to Sky Sports:
Callum McGregor: “Much better second half. A good win, important because we probably wasted 45 minutes. “We’re a team that want to go forward and score goals, so you have to rely on the guys at the back to bail you out sometimes. “We know the way we want the game to look, so it’s about reinforcing that to the boys coming in. “[Yang] is a really important part of the team. He’s a big player to miss, but obviously we wish him the best [at the Asian Games].”
Liam Scales: “I thought the penalty was harsh, but we’re happy with the result. “We knew [at half-time] we needed to stay calm, improve and we could definitely go and win the game.”
Social media:
Tony Mac @tonymac84.bsky.social · 17h Scales has his hands behind his back then brings them out. Duran goal is onside, ref is a amateur.
Teams
Celtic
Manager: Martin O’Neill
Formation: 4 – 2 – 3 – 1
Starting lineup
01, V. Sinisalo
05, L. Scales
06, A. Trusty
20, C. Carter-Vickers
51, C. Donovan,8′, Yellow Card at 8 mins, subbed for D. Murray at 87 mins
22, M. Baur, subbed for O. Sørensen at 73 mins
42, C. McGregor (c), Captain
13, Yang Hyun-Jun, subbed for S. Tounekti at 73 mins
08, B. Nygren
23, Haissem Hassan, subbed for J. Forrest at 72 mins
11, C. Durán, subbed for S. Mheuka at 83 mins
Subs:
49, J. Forrest
26, S. Johnstone
03, J. Lotomba
29, S. Mheuka
47, D. Murray
21, A. Oxlade-Chamberlain
18, O. Sørensen
17, S. Tounekti
35, J. van den Berg
Goals:
L. Scales (51′)
Yang Hyun-Jun (68′)
Assists:
B. Nygren (51′)
C. Durán (68′)
St. Mirren
Manager: Craig McLeish
Formation: 4 – 2 – 3 – 1
Starting lineup
01, J. Chapman
03, D. John
53, H. Fieldson
13, A. Gogić (c), Captain
47, C. Ramsay,37′, Yellow Card at 37 mins
48, P. Nsio,90’+7, Yellow Card at 90 mins plus 7
08, R. Carr, subbed for J. Young at 83 mins
19, I. Kabia
30, F. Taylor, subbed for Samuel Ramos at 62 mins
23, C. Mochrie, subbed for L. Thomas at 69 mins
25, N. Agrafiotis, subbed for E. Sule at 68 mins
Subs:
24, J. Farquhar
06, L. Jackson
37, C. McEvoy
31, R. Mullen
10, Samuel Ramos,90’+7, Yellow Card at 90 mins plus 7
02, J. Richardson
09, E. Sule,90’+6, Yellow Card at 90 mins plus 6
16, L. Thomas
20, J. Young
Goals:
N. Agrafiotis (22′ pen) Penalty 22 minutes
Assists:
Match Officials
Referee: Ryan Lee
Video Assistant Referee: Don Robertson
Assistant Referee 1: Scott Robert Anderson
Assistant Referee 2: Ross Nelson
Fourth Official: Jamie Wilkie
Assistant VAR Official: Gary Hilland
Venue:The Marbill Coaches Stadium
Attendance:6,911
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Match Links
Stats
Celtic
Basic Stats
Overall possession
St. Mirren 39.9%
Celtic 60.1%
Shots
St. Mirren 19
Celtic 23
Shots on target
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 8
Total touches inside the opposition box
St. Mirren 19
Celtic 47
STM
CEL
Goalkeeper saves
St. Mirren 5
Celtic 5
Aerial duels won
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 20
Fouls committed
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 15
Corners
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 10
In-depth match stats
Attack
Shots
St. Mirren 19
Celtic 23
Shots on target
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 8
Shots off target
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 10
Attempts out of box
St. Mirren 11
Celtic 3
One-on-one attempts
St. Mirren 0
Celtic 2
Total offsides
St. Mirren 0
Celtic 2
Distribution
Total passes
St. Mirren 354
Celtic 528
Pass accuracy %
St. Mirren 76
Celtic 84.7
Backward passes
St. Mirren 51
Celtic 98
Forward passes
St. Mirren 152
Celtic 168
Total long balls
St. Mirren 65
Celtic 37
Successful final third passes
St. Mirren 64
Celtic 131
Total crosses
St. Mirren 12
Celtic 27
Defence
Total tackles
St. Mirren 28
Celtic 19
Won tackle %
St. Mirren 75
Celtic 68.4
Fouls committed
St. Mirren 6
Celtic 15
Total yellow cards
St. Mirren 4
Celtic 1
Total clearances
St. Mirren 30
Celtic 18
Pre Match Facts
Celtic have won each of their last 11 league games, including all four so far this season. Indeed, since the start of last season, the Hoops have won 23 of their 27 league matches under Martin O’Neill (D2 L2), averaging 2.63 points-per-game with the Northern Irishman in this time.
Under Martin O’Neill,
Celtic have won all seven of their games against St. Mirren in all competitions by an aggregate score of 16-2. In the club’s history, the only managers to face a specific opponent more while winning 100% of meetings are Jock Stein (11/11 v Raith Rovers), Brendan Rodgers (9/9 v Hamilton Academical), and Ange Postecoglou (8/8 v Ross County).
Benjamin Nygren has five goal involvements in
Celtic’s four Scottish Premiership games this season, scoring three and assisting two. However, the Swede has scored or assisted against 10 of the 11 sides he has faced in the competition, failing to do so only against St. Mirren (3 games).
Camilo Durán has scored six goals in seven appearances for
Celtic in all competitions, including three in his last two Scottish Premiership matches. The Colombian is averaging 97 minutes-per-goal for
Celtic in all competitions.
Articles
BBC
At a glance
Scales & Yang goals maintain Celtic’s 100% Premiership record
Agrafiotis scored first St Mirren goal from spot to put hosts in front
Paisley side lose unbeaten league record
ByAndy Campbell
BBC Scotland
Watch St Mirren v Celtic highlights
05/09/2026
Watch on iPlayer
Champions Celtic made it five Scottish Premiership wins out of five and consigned St Mirren to a season’s first league defeat after coming from behind in Paisley.
Liam Scales’ header and Yang Hyun-jun’s calm finish overturned the hosts’ half-time advantage, obtained through Nikolas Agrafiotis’s penalty.
Scales had conceded the spot-kick when his fist blocked Chris Mochrie’s volley, with referee Ryan Lee showing no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Camilo Duran netted from a Yang cross but VAR ruled offside on a very marginal call as the Paisley side’s lead held until the break.
Luke Thomas could not direct his effort on target as St Mirren opened up their visitors in search of a late leveller, and fellow substitute Shim Mheuka was denied a first Celtic goal by another VAR offside.
Martin O’Neill’s side are top on 15 points, five points above Craig McLeish’s St Mirren and Rangers.
St Mirren analysis: Buddies battle hard
St Mirren competed well against the league leaders, particularly in the first half.
Winger Ismeal Kabia set up an intriguing battle with Colby Donovan, with the Celtic right-back booked for an early foul and knowing he could not mis-time any later challenges.
Fraser Taylor’s low shot from distance tested Viljami Sinisalo prior to the penalty and Taylor had another decent attempt deflected wide at 1-1. Mochrie should have at least hit the target from Declan John’s corner soon after.
The Scales equaliser perhaps drew questions over Jacob Chapman’s positioning but the goalkeeper had an otherwise solid game and was left exposed as Yang ran through for Celtic’s winner.
Substitute Thomas and Paul Nsio got the home crowd going when they tested Sinisalo and Thomas should have led with his right foot instead of his left when presented with his late opportunity.
With 10 points, McLeish’s side are still in a highly desirable position after five league fixtures before visiting Rangers on Wednesday (19:45 BST).
Graphic
Celtic analysis: Duran turns provider
After six goals in his previous five games, it looked like it would not be Duran’s night in the fading Paisley light.
His low shot was held by Chapman in Celtic’s immediate response to the opening goal and, after the VAR offside decision, Duran was denied at close range moments after Callum McGregor’s volley had been turned out by the St Mirren keeper.
However, the Colombian showed tenacity to win the ball in St Mirren’s half in advance of his assist. Mheuka would take over from Duran and, as well as his offside goal, fired over.
Scales atoned for his earlier spot-kick concession by superbly heading in Benjamin Nygren’s corner and almost mirrored that goal from the opposite side.
Calvin Ramsay brilliantly stopped a certain second Celtic goal when blocking Yang’s shot after Chapman had been eliminated by Nygren’s pass, but Yang would have the last laugh.
His replacement Sebastian Tounekti lacked composure with a similar chance he put wide wide.
A trip to Perth to face St Johnstone beckons on Wednesday (20:00), a first McDiarmid Park visit for 16 months for the club and O’Neill’s first return to Perth as Celtic manager in 25 years.
‘Celtic just had an extra gear at times’
05/09/26
Listen on Sounds
What they said
St Mirren manager Craig McLeish: “I’m proud of the players and the effort they gave and what they tried to do throughout the game. The goals that we lose are probably disappointing from our point of view but Celtic have other chances in the game.
“We showed really good character. They never give up, they never give in. We then create chances, we have some of our best spells of play after we go 2-1 down. We’re probably unlucky not to nick an equaliser.
“We’re trying to improve every single week, every single game. You’re not going to come up against that type of test very often and we have to make sure that we use it and we learn from it and we keep building on what we’re doing it.”
00:46
Figure caption,
‘We can improve’ – O’Neill after 100% start
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill: “I’m delighted that we’ve won the game. St Mirren played really splendidly as we thought they would do and caused us loads and loads of problems.
“We did create a number of chances. I thought that perhaps we didn’t have the fluency that we’ve had in other games. On the break, we were very, very dangerous.
“Overall, there were some sparkling moments from us and some moments where we had a total contrast. We took the game in the end. I think for the chances we created probably deserved it but we can improve.”
Yang strikes to seal the points for Celtic over St Mirren
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/september/05/yang-strikes-to-seal-the-points-for-celtic-over-st-mirren/
First Team
By Matthew Campbell
Share
05 Sep 2026, 10:04 pm
Scottish Premiership
The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley
Saturday, August 5, 2026
ST MIRREN…1
(Agrafiotis 22)
CELTIC…2
(Scales 51, Yang 68)
Celtic came back from a goal down to win 2-1 away against St Mirren tonight, with second-half goals from Liam Scales and Yang sealing three points for Martin O’Neill’s men.
St Mirren’s Fraser Taylor found himself with an early shooting chance from the edge of the box, but his powerful effort rose way over the bar and crashed off the underside of the roof of the stand in which the travelling Celtic faithful were housed.
Soon after, it was Celtic’s turn to have a shot at goal, and after a perfectly-weighted long ball from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Yang was able to get a shot towards the target from close range, but his effort hit the base of the post and went behind for a goal kick.
Fraser Taylor clearly felt confident with shots from distance, and whilst his first effort rattled the roof, his second with just short of 20 minutes gone demanded a good diving save from Viljami Sinisalo.
From the resulting corner, Nikolas Agrafiotis found himself with a shooting opportunity from outside the box. His powerful strike hit the hand of Liam Scales in the penalty area and after the referee’s penalty decision was confirmed by VAR, Agrafiotis put St Mirren 1-0 ahead from the spot.
Celtic looked to respond quickly, and after another St Mirren corner, Mika Baur sprung the counter-attack, sending a good ball forward to Camilo Durán who drew a good save from Jacob Chapman with an effort from just inside the box.
Martin O’Neill’s men thought they had levelled the game just before the half-hour mark when Camilo Durán knocked the ball in to the net after a chip over the keeper from Yang, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review and the home side’s one-goal advantage remained intact.
Five minutes before half-time, Callum McGregor, who scored a late winner in Paisley last season, drew a good save from the home side’s keeper with an effort from 12 yards out that looked like it was looping in to the top corner.
40%
Possession
60%
19
Shots
23
6
Shots On Target
8
6
Corners
10
6
Fouls
15
4
0
Cards
1
0
Early in the second half, Yang had a massive opportunity to level the scoreline when he got on the end of a dangerous ball to the back post from Haissem Hassan, but the Korean’s effort went wide of the target.
Celtic looked hungry to find an equaliser, and the leveller they were searching for was found five minutes in to the second half when a well-taken corner from Benjamin Nygren was glanced in to the net by Liam Scales, who had anticipated the front-post ball and was on hand to make the all-important contact with his head.
Scales almost scored an identical goal from the opposite side just moments later, though this time his glancing effort from a Mika Baur corner crept just wide of the far post.
With an hour gone, the momentum was with Celtic, and Yang found himself with another chance after Hassan slipped a sensational ball through to Benjamin Nygren, who cut it back towards South Korean winger on the penalty spot, but the home side’s keeper was quick off of his line to shut down the shot and prevent the goal.
That momentum swung even further towards Celtic with 67 minutes gone when Camilo Durán showed brilliant desire to win the ball back in the middle of the park, sparking a swift attack for Martin O’Neill’s men who went charging through on goal.
The Celts had the numerical advantage in the attack, with four forwards up against two defenders, and a good through ball from Durán gave Yang a one-on-one opportunity against the keeper which he duly took, coolly slotting the ball in to the net to make it 2-1.
With 20 minutes remaining, Martin O’Neill made a triple change, bringing Yang, Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan off for Sebastian Tounekti, Oliver Sørensen and James Forrest.
The home side put up a good fight to try and find an equaliser of their own, and with 10 minutes to go Viljami Sinisalo produced two big saves just moments apart, denying both Eseosa Sule and Samuel Ramos.
There was another change for Celtic with 82 minutes gone as Camilo Durán, who was a handful for the St Mirren defence all night, was replaced by youngster Shumaira Mheuka. That change was soon followed by another as Colby Donovan was replaced by Dane Murray.
Mheuka looked like he had put the game beyond any doubt in stoppage time when he showed great strength to overcome the attentions of a St Mirren defender before knocking the ball beyond the keeper and finishing from a tight angle, but for the second time in the game, the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
With another three points in the bag, the Hoops will now turn their attentions to Wednesday night’s trip to Perth to face St Johnstone.
St. Mirren: Chapman, Ramsay, Gogic, Fieldson, John, Carr (Young 83′), Nsio, Mochrie (Thomas 69′), Taylor (Ramos 62′), Kabia, Agrafiotis (Sule 68′)
Subs: Richardson, Jackson, Sule, Ramos, Thomas, Young, Farquhar, Mullen, McEvoy
Celtic: Sinisalo, Donovan (Murray 87′), Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Scales, McGregor, Baur (Sørensen 73′), Haissem Hassan (Forrest 72′), Nygren, Hyunjun Yang (Tounekti 73′), Durán (Mheuka 83′)
Subs: Lotomba, Tounekti, Sørensen, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Johnstone, Mheuka, van den Berg, Murray, Forrest
Celtic’s hero delivers perfect parting gift to dig far from polished outfit out of the mire
By Graeme Macpherson
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/latest-celtic-news/celtics-hero-delivers-perfect-parting-gift-to-dig-far-from-polished-outfit-out-of-the-mire-8962623
Comment
Published 5th Sep 2026, 22:15 BST
St Mirren play their part – but champions maintain 100 per cent record
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Celtic were pushed all the way in Paisley, but come the end of a pulsating 90 minutes had still found a way to preserve their perfect start to the Premiership season.
Trailing to a Nikolas Agrafiotis penalty that had St Mirren leading both the match and, temporarily, the league table, too, Martin O’Neill’s side dug deep in the second half to equalise through a Liam Scales header and then forge in front via Yang Hyun-jun’s fine run and finish.
Yang will now head off as part of the South Korea squad competing in the Asian Games making this the perfect way to sign off as Celtic stretched their lead at the top to five points over a St Mirren side tasting league defeat for the first time.
Yang Hyun-jun netted the winner for Celtic against St Mirren.
Yang Hyun-jun netted the winner for Celtic against St Mirren. | SNS Group
Craig McLeish and his side can perhaps feel hard done to having contributed so much to a compelling contest although, not for the first time, it was their finishing that let them down as one player after another lined up to shoot late on but couldn’t find the net.
If St Mirren can still take heart from their performance, then for Celtic it was all about the result. This was far from their polished best but a fifth successive victory to start their title defence allows them to work on improvements from the strongest of positions.
Their late splurge in the transfer market was reflected on the team sheet. Six new players arrived in the final 48 hours of the window and five of them were accommodated on the bench. That none were deemed worthy of a starting berth perhaps told its own story.
St Mirren’s impressive start to the season will have surprised all but the most buoyant of Buddies and there was evidently no notion to adjust their attacking philosophy here, even given the undoubted step-up in the calibre of the opposition.
McLeish’s insistence that his team pass their way up the pitch is easy on the eye when it comes off but, against a team that presses as relentlessly as Celtic, it also tends to put his defence under pressure while giving home supporters palpitations.
Scales makes amends for Celtic
It also, though, allows St Mirren to strike quickly on the counter, primarily using the lightning quick pace of Ismeal Kabia, the winger on loan from Arsenal, to create opportunities of their own. Viljami Sinisalo did well to repel a Fraser Taylor but respite would be brief as the home side forged in front.
From the resultant corner, Scales stuck out an arm to block Chris Mochrie’s volley: penalty. Up stepped Agrafiotis, the Dutch-born Serb plucked from the German third tier, to lash his effort past the goalkeeper and give his team the lead. That great big tease of modern times – the As It Stands table – had St Mirren, remarkably, sitting at the top.
For all their possession, Celtic hadn’t created a huge amount by that point but duly upped the ante. Duran saw a shot saved and then did have the ball in the net as he scrambled to touch in Yang’s shot that was dribbling towards goal. A VAR check, however, showed the Colombian to be offside by the finest of margins.
Jacob Chapman was the busiest man on the pitch at this stage as he raced out of his goal to deny Duran again and then stretched to tip over Callum McGregor’s bouncing shot to allow St Mirren to head up the tunnel at half-time with their lead preserved.
Celtic, though, were only down but not out and a vibrant start to the second half duly delivered an equaliser. Yang and Haissem Hassan – a persistent threat all night down the right – both passed up chances but a goal was coming and it was Scales who got it, atoning for his penalty concession by nodding Benjamin Nygren’s corner past Chapman.
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Now it was St Mirren with the edge of desperation to their play as they tried to regain their advantage. It made for a frenetic, intense affair, with the pace never dropping for a second. Both teams traded chances, Kabia, Taylor and Mochrie all threatening for St Mirren, before only a valiant Calvin Ramsay block denied what looked a certain goal for Yang.
The Korean, though, would enjoy his moment soon after. St Mirren were careless with possession in the Celtic half and Duran capitalised, taking the ball from Ryan Carr and sliding in Yang. The winger’s pace and composure did the rest as he streaked away before finishing well past Chapman.
Manager delighted with another Premiership win
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/september/05/manager-delighted-with-another-premiership-win/
First Team
By Paul Cuddihy, Celtic View Editor
Share
05 Sep 2026, 10:54 pm
It was a tough top-of-the table clash in Paisley between Celtic and St Mirren, and it was the league leaders who went home with all three points thanks to a 2-1 victory.
Goals from Liam Scales and Yang gave Martin O’Neill’s side the win and maintain the team’s 100 per cent start to the Premiership campaign.
Speaking to CelticPlayer after the game, the Celtic manager said: “I’m naturally delighted to win the game, and coming from behind as well.
“We started the second half very, very strongly, and while people might think it was a matter of time, it wasn’t really like that.
“But we score the goal and it sets us off greatly and we go on and win the game 2-1. We had a number of chances to really put it beyond them but, honestly, I didn’t feel as if St Mirren were ever out of it.
“I’m delighted that we’ve won the game, which is what it’s about, and we showed some sparkling moments in the match, some really driving counter-attacking play, where we were very strong.
“In fact, the winning goal for us, we broke and we’ve had four breaking on it. And Yang, who’s leaving us now, has scored a really great goal.”
“I’ve never seen so many cricket lines in my life,” Martin O’Neill’s VAR verdict
Two of Celtic’s four goals controversially ruled out by VAR
David FauldsBy David FauldsSeptember 6, 2026No Comments9 Mins Read
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Yang celebrates
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, St Mirren versus Celtic; Yang Hyun jun of Celtic celebrates after he shoots and scores in the 68th minute to make it 2-1 to Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Martin O’Neill spoke to the media after two of Celtic’s four goals against St Mirren were somehow allowed to stand to give the Champions the three points in a hard-fought 2-1 win in Paisley as Celtic make it 12 Scottish Premiership wins on the bounce…
Guesswork denies Shim Mheuka his first Celtic goal
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership , St Mirren versus Celtic; Referee Ryan Lee checks the VAR screen before ruling out Shim Mheuka of Celtic effort for
offside. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Martin, it was an entertaining game, what did you make of it?
Martin O’Neill: “St Mirren did not surprise me at all, not in the least, having seen them back, although not live, but the game. So they were really up for it, they played very, very well indeed, caused us plenty of problems, and took the lead. There was a 10 or 15 minute spell in the first half where I thought that we were well and truly second best. We came out with renewed energy, renewed determination in the second half, got the equalising goal, went on to win it. But it was a tough evening for us.”
Camilo Duran of Celtic is denied a goal by a controversial VAR decision
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, ; Scottish Premiership , St Mirren versus Celtic; Camilo Duran of Celtic puts the ball into the net in the 29th minute with VAR ruling the effort out for offside seemingly using the wrong frame to justify the decision. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: There was a wee suggestion that VAR wasn’t working properly in this one, it might have denied you a goal from Duran?
Martin O’Neill: “Well I would probably be more unhappy about it if we had not won the game. Is that right? It wasn’t working properly?”
Q: The lines looked as if they were not properly calibrated.
Martin O’Neill: “Oh we’re not going back to that, it was the same last season as well, I’ve never seen so many cricket lines in my life.”
Referee Ryan Lee speaks to captains about the VAR failings
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley; Scottish Premiership St Mirren versus Celtic; Referee Ryan Lee speaks to captains Callum McGregor of Celtic and the St Mirren captain Alex Gogic before checking VAR to rule out Shim Mheuka first goal for Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Even because at the end it seemed to be denied because the referee had to go and look and make his own decision on it?
Martin O’Neill: “He did, yeah.”
Q: How frustrating is that on the touchline when there’s a long delay?
Martin O’Neill: “You just cannot celebrate. It’s the first thing you think. I thought that when we scored, or thought we’d scored the goal in the first half, I thought well, it felt as if Yang, when he’s had the shot, that if it’s coming off it must be somebody rushing in to put the ball in the net. And even I thought that must be a goal. And then for it to be ruled offside. So you cannot celebrate. That goes for every manager, every coaching staff. You just can’t do it until it’s finally decided.”
Yang celebrates
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, St Mirren versus Celtic; Yang Hyun jun of Celtic celebrates after he shoots and scores in the 68th minute to make it 2-1 to Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: What do you make of Hyun-jun Yang’s winner and obviously you’re going to miss him, Martin?
Martin O’Neill: “We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment. Really disappointed. I hope they get beaten quickly! No, I don’t. I don’t. Please, scrub that. He’ll read this and he’ll be really disappointed. But no, because if they do, if they don’t win the tournament, then he has to do service. So I hope they do win it. But yeah, he’s signed off. Brilliant goal. He’s in great form and he’ll work for you going backwards. He doesn’t mind doing that hard graft.”
Yang celebrates
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership, St Mirren versus Celtic; Yang Hyun jun of Celtic celebrates after he shoots and scores in the 68th minute to make it 2-1 to Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Is he alright after his knock?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, he’s okay. If he’d got up a little bit earlier, I think maybe we might have continued with him. But he looked shaken up a bit, so we took him off.”
Liam Scales scores the equaliser for Celtic
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership , St Mirren versus Celtic; Liam Scales of Celtic heads the ball and scores in the 51st minute to make it 1-1. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Sometimes criticised, Liam Scales, what did you make of his contribution?
Martin O’Neill: “I love Scales. I think he’s great. I think Scales is great. I think that last week he went and played left back. He’s a centre-half and yet we’re asking him almost to play like a wide left-hand side player at times. That he is not, but he has got a massive heart. He’s been brilliant. A couple of times I’ve been here, he’s been absolutely fantastic. Really, really fantastic. And I said to him the last game we played, I don’t know what the club would do without him.”
Q: Duran didn’t score Martin, but what about the contribution of the pass to Yang?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, yeah. I thought he looked a wee bit tired looking towards the end, hence us taking him off. Maybe just didn’t have the same. But he’s a clever player, he’s a really good player. And I was glad it was he who was making the pass through. And Yang still has to put the ball in the net. And then Tounekti, he comes on and just misses by about 15 yards. I said to him, how did you miss?
Shim Mheuka of Celtic
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership, St Mirren versus Celtic; Shim Mheuka of Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: You had Mheuka come off the bench and he thought he had a goal at the end, he looked a handful didn’t he?
Martin O’Neill: “He is, honestly. He could be a proper player in time. He could be.”
Mika Baur of Celtic.
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, ; Scottish Premiership, St Mirren versus Celtic; Mika Baur of Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Can you imagine him starting at some point?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, yeah. I could see him, very easily. This is the whole point, we’ve got a couple of players that deep down you don’t really know exactly what they can do. Of course we’ve studied them, we’ve got their things and they’re coming in. But until they’re thrown into these games. I was speaking to wee Mika Baur afterwards, I said, ‘Mika, these games are hard.’ He’s played in the Bundesliga second division, he just got into the big league. The games are hard here. Sometimes they don’t realise how hard they are. But big Shim looks as if he wants to adjust to it.”
Haissem Hassan of Celtic
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley; Scottish Premiership, St Mirren versus Celtic; Paul Nsio of St Mirren brings the ball away from Benjamin Nygren of Celtic and Haissem Hassan of Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: What did you think of Haissem Hassan?
Martin O’Neill: “Hassan, 1v1s, he can beat players all day long or all night long. He can do that. Again, he’s one that needs to get up to speed. He did fine in the World Cup, really fine in the World Cup. Not that we judged him in that, but he did fine. Then after the World Cup, I think he took about a seven or eight day holiday and that’s it. So he’s been doing a little bit of training on his own, but he’s a handful. He’s definitely a handful. He played a delightful ball just at the start of the second half.Was it Yang who should have scored? All those things I’ve just said about Yang, take them off. So yeah, he needs to get up to speed. He needs to obviously do a bit more work going backwards like everything else. But yeah, great.”
Martin O’Neill and Celtic assistant manager Shaun Maloney
5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership St Mirren versus Celtic; Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and Celtic assistant manager Shaun Maloney shout instructions to their players. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: You said you weren’t surprised by St Mirren. What did you make of them and the way they went about their business?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, it’s easy to be kind of sycophantic now that you’ve won the game. I thought they caused us plenty of problems. I thought they tried to play, which was great. They just looked a totally different outfit from the team that was struggling last season.”