Celtic Triumphs Over St Mirren as Yang Heads to Asia

Celtic will lose Yang Hyun-jun just as he is catching fire. Martin O’Neill knows it, and he didn’t bother hiding it.

The 24-year-old South Korean winger struck the winner in Paisley, his second goal in as many games, as Celtic came from behind to beat St Mirren 2-1. Then, almost as quickly as he settled this one, he was gone – heading for Japan and the Asian Games, and leaving a sizeable hole in O’Neill’s plans.

Yang’s last act – for now

St Mirren had Celtic rocking for long spells. They led at half-time, they were a penalty to the good, and they peppered the Celtic goal with 19 efforts on target. For a while, the league table was tilting in their favour.

But Yang changed the direction of the night with one sharp, ruthless counter.

Midway through the second half, with the game stretched, Celtic broke. Yang burst forward, the move unfolding at speed, and he finished it with the composure of a player who looks like he belongs at this level – and higher. It was a fitting sign-off.

O’Neill didn’t pretend this was just another player heading off on international duty.

“We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment,” the Celtic manager said. “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 strapped to his leg, adding a flicker of concern to an already complicated picture. O’Neill moved quickly to calm that.

“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.”

The winger now misses the midweek trip to St Johnstone, both upcoming clashes with Rangers and Celtic’s Europa League opener against Ferencvaros. For a player in this kind of rhythm, the timing could hardly be worse for his club.

St Mirren’s fast start, Celtic’s response

St Mirren didn’t just sit in and hope. They went after Celtic with purpose and a clear plan, and for a 10–15 minute spell in the first half, O’Neill’s side were second best by some distance.

The breakthrough came from the spot. Liam Scales handled in the box, and Nikolas Agrafiotis stepped up to bury the penalty midway through the first half. At that stage, St Mirren were heading for the top of the William Hill Premiership and playing like they meant to stay there.

“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 needed a reset at the break. They got one.

Six minutes into the second half, Scales made amends. The Irish defender rose to meet a cross and powered in the equaliser, turning a jittery evening into something more manageable for the visitors.

“We came out with renewed energy, renewed determination in the second half, got the equalising goal and went on to win it. But it was a tough evening for us,” O’Neill said.

The decisive moment arrived from a St Mirren mistake. Ryan Carr was dispossessed by Camilo Duran, 10 yards inside the Celtic half. One turnover, one break, and Yang was away to finish the move and flip the match.

McLeish backs brave St Mirren approach

The story of the night for St Mirren wasn’t just the defeat. It was how they lost it.

Head coach Craig McLeish has pushed a possession-based style, and even with the risk laid bare in both halves, he refused to turn on his players.

“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.”

The numbers back him up. Nineteen shots on target, a constant threat, and a late surge even after falling 2-1 behind.

“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,” McLeish added. “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.”

St Mirren leave with nothing but a sense of progress. Celtic leave with everything but one of their form players. As Yang boards his flight to Japan, the real question for O’Neill is simple: can Celtic keep winning while one of their sharpest weapons watches from the other side of the world?