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Celtic came from behind to beat St Mirren 2-1 in Paisley, with Yang Hyun-jun scoring the winner after Liam Scales's headed equaliser. The champions made it five wins from five Scottish Premiership matches and handed St Mirren their first league defeat.
Celtic came from behind to beat St Mirren 2-1 at St Mirren Park in Paisley on Saturday night. Yang Hyun-jun scored the winning goal from a counter-attack midway through the second half after Liam Scales had earlier headed Celtic level.
The result gave the champions a fifth straight league win and handed St Mirren their first Premiership defeat. St Mirren were heading for the top of the William Hill Premiership when Nikolas Agrafiotis converted a penalty midway through the first half. The penalty was awarded after Chris Mochrie's first-time volley struck the arm of Scales. Scales had his arms behind his back but instinctively raised one as the shot headed straight for him.
Referee Ryan Lee pointed to the spot, and a VAR check confirmed the defender was inside the box. Agrafiotis made no mistake. Martin O'Neill's side were made to work all the way by a Saints team who played with tempo, invention and managed 19 shots at goal. The tone was set for a highly competitive encounter early on.
Earlier in the opening half, Yang and Camilo Duran came close from tight angles, while St Mirren midfielder Fraser Taylor forced Viljami Sinisalo into a scrambling save with a long-range drive. The game continued to swing from end to end before the break. Duran forced a good save from Jacob Chapman on a counter-attack, while Calvin Ramsay had a shot deflected wide after a lightning break from Saints winger Ismael Kabia.
Duran also had a goal disallowed for offside after bundling Yang's deflected effort over the line. Haissem Hassan caused problems with his pace down Celtic's right, but his end product was mixed. He had one decent effort saved and hit another shot out for a throw-in. Chapman was superb in first-half stoppage time, tipping Callum McGregor's bouncing volley over the crossbar.
Celtic penned St Mirren back in the opening stages of the second half. Egypt winger Hassan again showed both sides of his game, setting up Yang with a brilliant cross that the South Korean knocked wide, then miskicking a first-time effort with Chapman grounded. The equaliser came six minutes after the break. Scales ran to meet Benjamin Nygren's near-post corner and steered the ball into the far corner.
He then went close with a similar effort from Mika Baur's corner from the other flank. St Mirren rediscovered their attacking rhythm, with Mochrie volleying wide from a far-post corner. The home team were then caught out by a Celtic break that created a four-against-two situation. Duran's pressing won the ball from Ryan Carr just inside Celtic's half, and he broke forward before playing in Yang, who finished to make it 2-1.
Saints responded again. Sinisalo made saves from substitutes Luke Thomas, Eseosa Sule, Samuel Ramos and Jake Young, and Thomas scooped a great chance over the bar after a strong run from Young. Celtic substitute Sebastian Tounekti missed a stoppage-time sitter. Shim Mheuka rounded Chapman to score but was flagged offside after a VAR review, leaving Celtic to celebrate a hard-earned victory that extended their perfect league start.
IrishTimes
The42_ie:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Football Scottish Premiership Celtic St Mirren Liam Scales Yang Hyun-Jun
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