Match Pictures | Matches: 2026 – 2027
Trivia
- KO: 20:00, Wednesday, Sky Sports
- Newly promoted returning St Johnstone to the top tier.
- Lots of changes: Johnstone debut in goals, CCV out injured, Tounekti starts! Hogh back from injury but Tierney on the bench. Duran & Nygren on the bench too.
- Hassan debut goal chopped off wrongly!
- Celtic remain on top 6/6 wins, 18pts +11 GD, Sevco now second after 91st 1-0 winner v St Mirren +3GD. Both meet in league cup next Sunday. Hearts can got second as have game in hand on 12pts.
- Duran set for first call-up to Colombian national team
- Jota may return to play sooner than was expected but will be introduced with short appearances to get him up to speed.
- Iheanacho eight goals and two assists across his first six appearances at his new club!
- Reports:
- For January, Liverpool left back Luke Chambers; and Blackburn’s Ryoya Morishita.
Summary
BBC Six wins out of six for defending Scottish Premiership champions Celtic. Mika Baur netted the only goal early in the second half to ultimately settled a thoroughly entertaining game. St Johnstone contributed a lot to the match and can take plenty positives.
What the stats say in Perth FT: St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic The stats show Celtic’s superiority in Perth but this match was not overly one-sided. Promoted St Johnstone had a good few chances and gave debutant Celtic goalkeeper Sam Johnstone cause for concern on more than one occasion. Celtic might have added to their lead with a number of late efforts but Saints keeper Toby Steward showed his prowess with some fine stops.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill tells BBC Scotland: “A win is a win. I’m not sure what to make of it, really. We could’ve scored a number of goals, particularly after we scored. “It’s difficult to score goals, there’s no question about it. We made it look impossible. Delighted to have won the game. Lots to still improve on. “We’ve got to get players into the penalty box to score goals. If you’re sitting outside, you’ll not get it. “Once we got the goal, which obviously gave us momentum, I felt we were kind of strong there for a good period of the game but never able to put the game beyond St Johnstone. “We really had to up the tempo [in the second half]. Sometimes, our play was a wee bit laborious. St Johnstone had a major chance in the game [with Joel Cotterill], Sam Johnstone makes a fantastic save. Otherwise, we’re a goal behind.”
St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari tells BBC Scotland: “You play against the champions and big credit to them. That’s why they are the champions – they find their way to win these matches, even when it’s an even game. “We created enough chances to get something. That’s the disappointment of the evening, that we could not score those. “When we keep performing, just taking care of our performances, the results will come. “It is a performance, not a result. “We were in the match for the whole match.”
Daily Record: Kasper Hogh’s goal was ruled out because the on-field officials decided that the ball had left the field of play before Hogh kept it alive. VAR was unable to intervene or overturn the decision because the ball went out of the camera frame between Tounekti’s cross and Hogh’s contact, leaving VAR without the necessary footage to confirm whether the ball was still in play. As a result, the original call stood, and the goal was disallowed
JBCity of TheCelticwiki: Strange situation: Celtic scored a second goal by Hassan but it was struck off as it was deemed to have gone out before the final shot, however replays showed it was still in play (kept in by Hogh). VAR Didn’t overrule it as some claims that no necesary footage to confirm it, but actually there’s clear footage which was available live as pics show! However, when you look at the main view of the camera pics on the line, in fairness the ball does go out of shot, however common sense says when you take all the camera views into account it is clear that the trajectory did not waiver and the ball did NOT go out, so the goal should have stood. Not been a good week for VAR, and really more work needs done. It was NOT costly in this case for Celtic who still won & got the three points but one day for one side it will be.
Beyond that, Celtic were abject in the first half and only really recovered in the second with some good play but little penetration & shot taking in the box to concern the St Johnstone keeper. Debut goalkeeper Johnstone at Celtic had a good game can kept Celtic in it as St Johnstone had their chances to take at least a point, and really Celtic should have been more aware of the risk. The second half was better by Celtic with the goal created by some good passing and teamwork between the players in the box to help give Baur his debut goal (a quietly effective player). Tounetki was frustrating, did a lot more than usual but not effective enough. He needs to do far more to justify more gametime. Hogh is concerning some supporters as seemed to not be effective enough as well, but he did play a part in both goals today (albeit one ruled out). Hassan best game so far, great pace and giving opposition trouble.
Midfield was very weak and St Johnstone actually cut through quite easily at point in counterattacks. This is a continuing concern, and Soerensen is new but not yet hit the ground running. Greater physicality needed in the midfield to cut out opposition attacks, and Celtic will be challenged heavily on this on Sunday coming v Sevco.
Not the most convincing of victories this evening but at least the three points were still won.
Jimmy Mac of KdS:They said we either have really tight games or give St J a pumping. We got the former but when you look back at the game, we could so easily have had the latter. Whilst we weren’t fluent in our play, in the second half especially, we created enough to put the game to bed. And apart from one opportunity, St J didn’t really trouble us and we were well worth the win.The first half attacking performance was bad, the worst domestically so far this season, but we improved second half to a satisfactory level. We just did the same things but better and we used our RHS more in the second half rather than funnelling down the left to an ineffectual Tounekti. Hassan is light years ahead of Tounekti in troubling defences but I’m going to admit, Seb was more threatening second half. I’m afraid we are going to get more performances like that until we sort out the midfield. Be it personnel or more than likely shape, the midfield’s job last night seemed to be about getting the ball out wide and that was it. The winger was either isolated, or had a FB near them, but a the midfield seemed to be elsewhere. And when St J broke, the gaps in midfield were huge once again.
SBB of KDS:
Big 3 points. It’s not been great to watch the last two away games but we’ve been on the end of some horrendous refereeing performances.
Positives – Baur is excellent. Hassan is going to rip teams apart when he gets more familiar with Scottish football. Donovan is maturing brilliantly, especially going forward. Forrest did well as usual, Mheuka is going to be sensational. He is genuinely frighteningly good from the short time he’s had on the pitch so far,
Negatives – Tounetki just isn’t good enough and the midfield is so disconnected it’s unbelievable. St Johnstone, St Mirren, LASK and Dundee United have created far too many chances against us, Also, I would rather not see that back 4 start another game together. Pure terrorism in possession, a bit flustered out of possession, Hopefully KT and CCV make it for Sunday because it’s so laboured without natural width. I’ve stood up for Trusty more than most but thought he was so poor again tonight. Valakari obviously saw The Badger’s tactic at the last game of the season where Scumbos were happy to leave Trusty on the ball. I can guarantee that will be rolled pit again,
Overall, a good result in the end but it was pretty boring for large spells. I don’t remember a single attempt to get a goal in the first 45 mins.
I worry that any half decent coach will find a way to nullify this Celtic rpg
Social Media:
- Donovan has been getting better and better for me potential of being another tierney not sure of Donovan’s age
- It speaks volumes when boyd thought Hassan goal should have stood last 2 games alone we have now 4 decisions against us
- Mika Baur is a really good player, quietly goes about his business, no drama, not the finished article by any stretch but great buy.
- Kriskijawa: Goal ruled out by the referee guessing an offside the VAR couldn’t handle and the linesman didn’t flag at the weekend. Goal ruled out by the onfield linesman’s flag when the VAR couldn’t see it tonight.The only consistency is the team losing a goal.Didn’t look out to me.I’d actually be fine with tonight’s being ruled out because the on field decision had to stand if that same standard had applied in Paisley at the weekend.
Teams
Celtic
Manager: Martin O’Neill
Formation: 04 – 2 – 3 – 1
Starting lineup
26, S. Johnstone
05, L. Scales,82′, Yellow Card at 82 mins, subbed for K. Tierney at 87 mins
06, A. Trusty
47, D. Murray
51, C. Donovan
22, M. Baur,90’+4, Yellow Card at 90 mins plus 4
42, C. McGregor (c), Captain
17, S. Tounekti, subbed for J. Forrest at 73 mins
18, O. Sørensen, subbed for B. Nygren at 67 mins
23, Haissem Hassan, subbed for C. Durán at 73 mins
09, K. Høgh, subbed for S. Mheuka at 86 mins
Subs:
11, C. Durán
49, J. Forrest
03, J. Lotomba
29, S. Mheuka
08, B. Nygren
21, A. Oxlade-Chamberlain
01, V. Sinisalo
63, K. Tierney
35, J. van den Berg
Goals:
M. Baur (52′)
Assists:
Haissem Hassan (52′)
St Johnstone
Manager: Simo Valakari
Formation: 4 – 2 – 3 – 1
Starting lineup
01, T. Steward
02, E. Alić
03, C. Diabate
19, D. Finlayson
26, M. Todd
42, R. McAlear,69′, Yellow Card at 69 mins
08, J. Holt (c), Captain, subbed for S. Stanton at 63 mins
07, T. Steven, subbed for K. Fotheringham at 74 mins
30, J. Cotterill, subbed for M. Tait at 87 mins
32, J. Campbell,55′, Yellow Card at 55 mins, subbed for D. Schmidt at 74 mins
09, J. Fowler, subbed for R. Paton at 63 mins
Subs:
04, M. Boyes
18, K. Fotheringham
14, M. Foulds
99, R. Paton
22, D. Schmidt
20, R. Sinclair
33, L. Smith
11, S. Stanton
25, M. Tait
Goals:
Assists:
Match Officials
Referee: Matthew MacDermid
Video Assistant Referee: Grant Irvine
Assistant Referee 1: Ross MacLeod
Assistant Referee 2: David Dunne
Fourth Official: Dan McFarlane
Assistant VAR Official: Duncan Williams
Venue:McDiarmid Park
Attendance:9,879
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Match Links
Stats
Basic Stats
Overall possession
STJ
39.7%
CEL
60.3%
St. Johnstone 39.7%
Celtic 60.3%
Shots
St. Johnstone 9
Celtic 15
Shots on target
St. Johnstone 3
Celtic 9
Total touches inside the opposition box
St. Johnstone 13
Celtic 38
STJ
CEL
Goalkeeper saves
St. Johnstone 8
Celtic 3
Aerial duels won
St. Johnstone 11
Celtic 21
Fouls committed
St. Johnstone 13
Celtic 9
Corners
St. Johnstone 2
Celtic 11
In-depth match stats
Attack
Shots
St. Johnstone 9
Celtic 15
Shots on target
St. Johnstone 3
Celtic 9
Shots off target
St. Johnstone 4
Celtic 2
Attempts out of box
St. Johnstone 3
Celtic 2
One-on-one attempts
St. Johnstone 0
Celtic 1
Total offsides
St. Johnstone 0
Celtic 2
Distribution
Total passes
St. Johnstone 385
Celtic 583
Pass accuracy %
St. Johnstone 77.7
Celtic 89.5
Backward passes
St. Johnstone 84
Celtic 96
Forward passes
St. Johnstone 148
Celtic 154
Total long balls
St. Johnstone 51
Celtic 28
Successful final third passes
St. Johnstone 69
Celtic 138
Total crosses
St. Johnstone 20
Celtic 35
Defence
Total tackles
St. Johnstone 12
Celtic 8
Won tackle %
St. Johnstone 75
Celtic 12.5
Fouls committed
St. Johnstone 13
Celtic 9
Total yellow cards
St. Johnstone 2
Celtic 2
Total clearances
St. Johnstone 45
Celtic 37
Pre Match Facts
Celtic have won 23 of their last 24 league games against newly promoted opponents (D1 – v Dundee United in December 2024) since a 1-2 defeat to Hearts in July 2021.
Newly promoted sides are winless in their last 37 Scottish Premiership games against reigning champions (D6 L31) since Hibernian beat
Celtic 2-1 in April 2018.
St. Johnstone have only won two of their last 12 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) games in the Scottish Premiership (D5 L5), beating Aberdeen 2-0 in February 2024 and Ross County 1-0 in February 2025.
Celtic have won 23 of their last 25 league games played on a Wednesday, the exceptions being a 2-4 defeat to Hibernian in May 2023 and 1-2 loss to Dundee United in December 2025.
Articles
BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c699d10vgmkyt#Report
At a glance
Baur’s first Celtic goal enough to maintain 100% Premiership record
Goalkeeper Johnstone makes first start and denies Cotterill
O’Neill’s much-changed side move five points clear at top before League Cup quarter-final against Rangers on Sunday
Mika Baur’s first Celtic goal was enough for the champions to maintain their perfect start in the Scottish Premiership – but they made hard work of inflicting a first home defeat of the season on impressive St Johnstone.
German midfielder Baur was on hand to give a laboured Celtic the lead seven minutes into the second-half as Martin O’Neill’s much-changed side failed to hit any great heights at McDiarmid Park.
Despite that, though, they stay five points clear of second-place Rangers at the top of the table.
Though O’Neill made five switches from the side who beat St Mirren on Saturday, the manager insisted this game was more important than Sunday’s League quarter-final at Ibrox, but his team delivered a blunt first-half performance in Perth.
For all their attacks – and crosses from Sebastian Tounekti and Haissem Hassan – Celtic struggled to trouble Toby Steward in goal.
Instead, his opposite number, Sam Johnstone – on his first start since joining on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers – was forced into a superb save to thwart Joe Cotterill from close range.
The former England international had a quieter second half and, although his team-mates were more threatening in front of goal, they failed to make it a more comfortable victory for O’Neill on his first game in Perth for 25 years.
Egypt international Hassan did find the net, but the ball was judged to have gone out of play before Kasper Hogh headed it into the path of the winger.
Celtic lead way from Rangers after narrow wins
St Johnstone analysis: Plenty to be proud of
Simo Valakari can once again say this was a performance to be proud of.
Though the attention was on Celtic’s five changes, the St Johnstone manager made four of his own from Sunday’s win over Hibernian, but you wouldn’t know it.
Matty Todd – playing out of position – stood up to the challenge of Tounekti and impressed with debutant Josh Campbell in front of him. The early signs of a decent relationship were promising.
Both were key figures in the disciplined defensive showing, and played their part in the fine showing in attack.
On Sunday, Valakari admitted it’d be “stupid” if his side shifted from the eye-catching, attacking football that won them the Championship last year, just because they were in the top flight.
They would have been forgiven for drifting from it somewhat, given who was in town, but unfazed by the name, they stuck to their game.
It’s no surprise now that St Johnstone play good football. And they play good Premiership football.
Celtic had to throw almost every body, and show a bundle of patience, to get their goal. Steward deserves great credit for ensuring it was only one goal with a string of sublime saves late on.
St Johnstone’s unbeaten start to the league season here has ended, but when they return here a week on Saturday against Falkirk (19 September, 15:00 BST), they will be favourites.
Graphic
Celtic analysis: Plenty questions for O’Neill
00:33
Figure caption,
Should this Celtic goal have stood?
Precision, potency, penetration – none of it was on show from Celtic. Or, at least, by any of the attacking players who started.
Dominant on the ball as ever, they were a frustrating watch in the final third. No one was more frustrated than Hogh.
A striker who plays between the posts – unlike the lively Camilo Duran who was introduced after 73 minutes – the Norwegian was fed very little from his wingers.
Tounekti racked up touches of the ball, and often passed the mismatched test against Todd, but failed at the final hurdle routinely. Lots of balls were swung into the box, but little – if any – of quality.
The Tunisian appears to be a player lacking confidence – in stark comparison to Yang Hyun-jun who has headed off to the Asian Games in great form – often making the wrong decision in front of goal.
Hassan can do magic things with the ball at his feet, but his final product left a lot to be desired.
In making five changes – Johnstone, Dane Murray, Oliver Sorensen, Tounekti and Hogh – O’Neill ought to have been hoping to learn his best pieces in this big jigsaw of a team he needs to pick.
Pre-match, he admitted he had “no idea” what Sorensen was capable of. He might still be wondering.
What he will know for sure, if he didn’t already, is that Yang will be an almighty miss; that Duran is his diamond; and there is still a lot of work to be done if his side are to reach the levels he – and supporters – want them to.
A lot of questions to mull over before the small matter of a trip to Ibrox on Sunday.
What they said
01:00
Figure caption,
‘Celtic ‘made it look impossible’ to score – O’Neill
St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: “You play against the champions and big credit to them. That’s why they are the champions – they find their way to win these matches, even when it’s an even game.
“We created enough chances to get something. That’s the disappointment of the evening, that we could not score those. When we keep performing, just taking care of our performances, the results, they will come.”
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill: “Delighted to have won the game. Lots to still improve on. A win is a win. I’m not sure what to make of it, really. We could’ve scored a number of goals, particularly after we scored.
“It’s difficult to score goals, there’s no question about it. We made it look impossible. We’ve got to get players into the penalty box to score goals. If you’re sitting outside, you’ll not get it.”
Mika Baur fires Celtic to victory over St Johnstone
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/september/09/mika-baur-fires-celtic-to-victory-over-st-johnstone/
First Team
By Matthew Campbell
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09 Sep 2026, 9:55 pm
Scottish Premiership
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
McDiarmid Park, Perth
ST JOHNSTONE…0
CELTIC…1
(Baur 52)
Celtic extended their winning run to six victories from six league matches with a hard-fought 1-0 win over St Johnstone tonight, as Mika Baur grabbed his first goal for the club.
The Hoops looked to put the home side under pressure early in the match, and in the fifth minute Haissem Hassan went close to opening the scoring with a good shot from inside the box which St Johnstone keeper Toby Steward did well to put wide for a corner.
The home side, still riding the crest of a wave following their victory over Hibernian at the weekend, had to be patient for their first chance of the match, but on the 20-minute mark Joel Cotterill had a massive chance to put his side ahead with a well struck effort from inside the box.
However, debut Bhoy Sam Johnstone was on hand to make a wonderful save, pushing the ball over the bar to keep the score level.
With just over half an hour gone, Callum McGregor found himself with a chance to put Celtic ahead when a dangerous cross in to the box from Mika Baur wasn’t cleared by the St Johnstone defence, giving the Celtic skipper a shooting opportunity, but his effort was deflected behind for a corner before it could trouble the goalkeeper.
Martin O’Neill’s men dominated the ball throughout the first 45 minutes, but the home side looked dangerous on the attack, and as the first half drew to a close, it was St Johnstone who had the momentum, with Simo Valakari’s side capitalising on some slack clearances from the Celtic back-line.
The Hoops, however, were able to deal with the danger and saw it through to the break at 0-0.
40%
Possession
60%
9
Shots
15
3
Shots On Target
9
2
Corners
11
13
Fouls
9
2
0
Cards
2
0
Sam Johnstone was called in to action early in the second half, producing another fine save, this time to deny Taylor Steven, who had fired a powerful shot on target from inside the Celtic penalty area.
With 52 minutes on the clock, and having weathered the home side’s pressure, Mika Baur grabbed his first goal in the Hoops to give Celtic the lead.
The move was started by Sebastian Tounekti, whose cross into the box was brought down by Kasper Høgh and laid off to Haissem Hassan.
Hassan showed his class to leave Cheick Diabate in his wake as he drove to the by-line before flashing the ball across the six-yard box, giving Baur a brilliant opportunity which he duly took to make it 1-0.
Shortly after the hour mark, Haissem Hassan looked like he had doubled Celtic’s lead with a finish from midway inside the penalty area, but the linesman’s flag brought a swift end to the celebrations, with the stand-side official judging that the ball had gone out of play before it was headed down to Hassan.
Soon after, Martin O’Neill made his first change of the match, swapping Oliver Soørensen for Benjamin Nygren in the middle of the park. There were then further changes for the Hoops, as Haissem Hassan and Sebastian Tounekti made way for James Forrest and Camilo Durán.
Forrest, in pursuit of a goal which would extend his scoring run to 18 consecutive seasons, almost reached that landmark in spectacular fashion with 13 minutes left to play as he chopped back and forth on the edge of the box before releasing an effort which drew a good diving save from Toby Steward.
Kasper Høgh had a massive opportunity to announce his return with a goal in the 83rd minute after some slack play at the back from St Johnstone and a good lay-off from Benjamin Nygren, but the home side’s keeper was able to save with his legs and deny the Dane.
With five minutes left, Martin O’Neill made his final two changes of the match, with Keiran Tierney and Shumaira Mheuka replacing Liam Scales and Kasper Høgh.
Shumaira Mheuka went close to making it 2-0 in stoppage time, but once again Toby Steward made the save and Celtic had to settle for a 1-0 win ahead of their trip to Ibrox on Sunday.
St. Johnstone: Steward, Todd, Finlayson, Diabate, Alic, Holt (Stanton 63′), McAlear, Campbell (Danny Schmidt 74′), Cotterill (Tait 87′), Steven (Fotheringham 74′), Fowler (Paton 63′)
Subs: Boyes, Stanton, Foulds, Fotheringham, Sinclair, Danny Schmidt, Tait, Smith, Paton
Celtic: Johnstone, Donovan, Murray, Trusty, Scales (Tierney 87′), McGregor, Baur, Haissem Hassan (Durán 73′), Sørensen (Nygren 67′), Tounekti (Forrest 73′), Høgh (Mheuka 86′)
Subs: Sinisalo, Lotomba, Nygren, Durán, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mheuka, van den Berg, Forrest, Tierney
Manager’s post-match reaction after victory in Perth
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/september/09/manager-s-post-match-reaction-after-victory/
First Team
By Paul Cuddihy, Celtic View Editor
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09 Sep 2026, 10:42 pm
Celtic made it six league wins out of six with a 1-0 victory over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park tonight.
Mika Baur’s first goal for Celtic was enough to give the Hoops all three points and Martin O’Neill was pleased with the victory against a tough St Johnstone side.
Speaking to CelticPlayer after the game, the Celtic manager said: “I thought we started off in good command of the game, or so it seemed, but without being able to get the elusive goal.
“I thought we caused them a few problems, then suddenly they’d broke on us and Sam Johnstone made a fantastic save, otherwise, we could have found ourselves a goal behind in the game.
“And in the second half we needed to get the tempo a wee bit faster for us and actually get players into the penalty box, because I thought that Tounekti in the first half was causing a few problems but when it’s been whipped in, there was nobody at the near post, there didn’t seem to be anybody in the middle of the post, and didn’t seem to be anybody at the back post.
“I felt as if that if we did get a bit of proper play wide and putting it in there, we should be able to get a goal. Eventually, that’s what happened. We got players in the penalty box when Hassan crossed.”
And the manager also praised the goalscorer, Mika Baur, saying: “He’s a fine little footballer and I’m delighted he got the goal tonight, which got us all three points.”
Attention now turns to the League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox this Sunday, and it’s a match the Hoops are looking forward to.
“It’s a big, big test for us, away from home, and with no fans,” the manager said. “It’s a tough fixture for us but we’ll go there and we have to play very strongly in the game and we need to raise our game.”
A
20:00 Wed 9 Sep
Celtic Crest
St. Johnstone 0
Celtic
Mika Baur delighted to open his scoring account for Celtic
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/september/09/mika-baur-delighted-to-open-his-scoring-account-for-celtic/
First Team
By Paul Cuddihy, Celtic View Editor
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09 Sep 2026, 11:02 pm
Mika Baur produced a Man of the Match performance at McDiarmid Park, scoring the only goal of the game to give Celtic a 1-0 victory over St Johnstone and all three points.
The win made it six out of six in the Premiership for the Champions, and Baur was delighted with the result, along with the fact that he netted his first goal for the Hoops.
Speaking to CelticPlayer after the game, the midfielder said modestly: “It was a tap-in and not that special, but I’m very, very happy that I scored the winning goal. And in the end, it was a deserved win.
“We had a tough first half and we can thank Sam (Johnstone). He was brilliant, so it was down to him that it was 0-0 at half-time. Then in the second half we did much better.
‘We created chances, we played faster and we had a better position during the game.’
And having now settled into a new apartment in the city, Baur is enjoying life on and off the park. Next up for the 22-year-old is his first Glasgow derby this Sunday in the League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox.
“I’m really look forward to it and it’s a very special match,” he said. “I’m happy that I can play these matches. I never experienced it before, so I’m looking forward to Sunday.”