Late Goal Lifts Celtic to Narrow Win Over St Mirren
You wouldn’t have guessed it would take 87 minutes, but Celtic finally broke through to edge out St Mirren 1-0 in their Scottish Premiership opener — and the relief around Parkhead was almost audible.
This match was a slow burn. For most of the game, it looked like St Mirren might just pull off a frustrating stalemate. They were solid, compact, and disciplined defensively, absorbing wave after wave of Celtic pressure. And truthfully, Celtic had their chances — plenty of them. Benjamin Nygren, Reo Hatate, and Adam Idah all struck the woodwork at different moments, and it was beginning to feel like luck just wasn’t on the champions' side.
To add to that frustration, Callum McGregor thought he had scored earlier in the match, only to see his goal chalked off after a VAR check. So when Luke McCowan came off the bench and made the difference, it was a breakthrough that had been a long time coming.
Also Read:The goal itself wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty, but it didn’t have to be. Daizen Maeda slipped a pass across the top of the box to McCowan, who let fly through a crowd of bodies. A deflection off St Mirren’s Mark O’Hara wrong-footed the goalkeeper, and the ball rolled neatly into the bottom corner. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective — and Parkhead erupted in relief.
Brendan Rodgers, Celtic’s manager, was clearly pleased after the match. He praised his players for staying patient and persistent, saying, “It’s a tough game and I thought it was an excellent win. They’re a well-organised team. We just had to stay persistent, and we were able to do that.”
From St Mirren’s perspective, it was a tough pill to swallow. They had defended heroically for most of the match and were just minutes away from taking a point off the reigning champions on their home turf. But football can be cruel like that — one slight deflection, one moment of space, and the whole game turns.
Still, for Celtic, this was the kind of gritty win that championship runs are built on — not always flashy, but hard-earned. And for Luke McCowan, what a way to introduce himself on opening day. That goal might not be remembered for its style, but it just might be remembered for its timing.
Read More:
0 Comments