Celtic's Comeback Victory Over St Mirren Despite Yang's Absence
Celtic had to dig this one out. Under the lights in Paisley, with St Mirren threatening to climb to the top of the William Hill Premiership, Martin O’Neill’s side were second best for long spells before turning a bruising night into a 2-1 comeback win.
At the heart of it, again, was Yang Hyun-jun. And now Celtic have to do without him.
Yang signs off in style
The 24-year-old South Korea winger, already in form, made it back-to-back scoring appearances with the decisive goal on the counter midway through the second half. It was a ruthless finish, the kind that changes the mood of a season and, in this case, the direction of a match Celtic had been struggling to control.
He will now leave for Japan and the Asian Games, missing the midweek trip to St Johnstone, both looming showdowns with Rangers and the Europa League opener against Ferencvaros. O’Neill did not hide the scale of that loss.
"We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment," the Celtic manager said, before underlining the wider stakes for the player. "If they don’t win the tournament, then he has to do (national) service. I hope they do win it.
"But he’s signed off with a brilliant goal. He’s in great form and he’ll work for you going backwards. He doesn’t mind doing the hard graft."
Yang left the pitch with an ice pack on his leg, sparking brief concern, but O’Neill played down any injury fears.
"He’s OK. 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."
Saints seize the moment
Up to that point, St Mirren had every right to dream. They were 45 minutes from the summit of the Premiership and they played like a side intent on staying there.
Craig McLeish’s team went in front midway through the first half, Nikolas Agrafiotis converting from the spot after Liam Scales was penalised for handball. It was no smash-and-grab. Saints were bold, front-footed and relentless.
They finished with 19 shots on target, a statistic that tells you how often Celtic were forced onto the back foot.
"They played very, very well indeed," O’Neill admitted. "Caused us plenty of problems and took the lead. A 10 or 15-minute spell in the first half where I thought we were well and truly second best."
Celtic looked ragged in that phase, loose in possession and vulnerable whenever St Mirren quickened the tempo. The home side’s possession-based approach stretched them, dragged them into awkward areas and had the crowd sensing something significant.
Celtic’s response
The interval changed the tone. Celtic emerged with a different edge, sharper in the duels and more assertive with the ball. The pressure told six minutes into the second half.
Scales, at fault for the penalty, climbed highest to meet a cross and headed in the equaliser, turning his night around and dragging Celtic back into the contest. From there, the champions started to impose themselves.
Then came the killer moment. With St Mirren still trying to build from the back, Camilo Duran robbed Ryan Carr 10 yards inside the Celtic half. One turnover, one break, and Yang finished the move to complete the turnaround.
It was exactly the kind of goal that will nag at McLeish.
McLeish sticks to his principles
The St Mirren head coach, though, refused to blame his players for sticking to the plan.
"I thought there were so many good parts about our play," McLeish said. "Probably the little bit of frustration was when we were a wee bit loose in possession. The first half, Celtic’s chances come from us giving the ball away at times when we should be more secure on it.
"And then even the second goal, that comes from us not being secure on the ball.
"We can’t then turn round and have a pop at the boys for that. We’re asking them to play, we’re asking them to be brave on the ball. We just need to keep doing it better at times, we need to keep building on it."
His side did not fold at 2-1 down. Far from it.
"Throughout the night we carried a threat. Even when we go 2-1 down, we show so much bravery and personality to keep going and keep playing.
"We probably have our strongest spell of the game and create some really good chances, probably unlucky not to take one of them.
"It probably shows where we’re at: we’re so disappointed with not coming away with anything."
That frustration is a measure of how far St Mirren have come. They went toe to toe with Celtic, created enough to take something and left aggrieved with an empty return.
Celtic, meanwhile, walk away with three points and a reminder of their own resilience. But as Yang boards his flight to Japan, the real examination lies ahead: can O’Neill’s side keep winning when their in-form winger is half a world away?
