Soccer
Yang Hyun-jun grabs winner as Celtic hit back to beat St Mirren
Yang Hyun-jun scored the winner as Celtic came from behind to beat an impressive St Mirren side 2-1.
St Mirren were heading for the top of the William Hill Premiership when Nikolas Agrafiotis netted from the spot midway through the first half.
Liam Scales conceded the penalty with a handball but made amends when he headed home six minutes after the break.
And Yang finished off a counter-attack midway through the second half after good pressing from Camilo Duran.
The victory in Paisley made it five wins from five league games for the champions and inflicted St Mirren’s first Premiership defeat.
Martin O’Neill’s side were made to work all the way by a Saints side who played with tempo, invention and managed 19 shots at goal.
The tone was set for a highly competitive encounter early on. Yang and Duran came close from tight angles while St Mirren midfielder Fraser Taylor had Viljami Sinisalo scrambling to stop his long-range drive.
The breakthrough came when Chris Mochrie let fly with a first-time volley.
Scales initially had his arms behind his back but instinctively threw one up as the shot headed straight for him and the ball struck it. Ryan Lee pointed to the spot and a VAR check confirmed the defender had been in the box. Agrafiotis converted.
The game continued to swing from end to end. Duran forced a good save from Jacob Chapman on the counter-attack and Calvin Ramsay had a shot deflected wide after a lightning quick break from Saints winger Ismael Kabia.
Duran had a goal disallowed for offside after bundling Yang’s deflected effort over the line while Haissem Hassan was causing problems with his pace down Celtic’s right wing. His end product was mixed – he had a decent effort saved and hit another shot out for a throw.
Chapman kept Saints ahead at the break with a superb flying save to tip Callum McGregor’s bouncing volley over the crossbar.
The visitors penned St Mirren back in the opening stages of the second half and Hassan again showed both sides of his game. The Egypt winger set up Yang with a brilliant cross which the South Korean knocked wide, and then mis-kicked a first-time effort with Chapman grounded.
The equaliser came when Scales ran to meet Benjamin Nygren’s near-post corner and steered the ball into the far corner.
Scales soon came close with a similar effort from Mika Baur’s corner from the other flank but St Mirren rediscovered their attacking impetus with Mochrie volleying wide from a far-post corner.
The home team were caught out on the break, though, as Celtic took advantage of a four-against-two situation. Duran won the ball off Ryan Carr just inside Celtic’s half and broke forward before playing in Yang to finish.
Saints responded again. Sinisalo made saves from substitutes Luke Thomas, Eseosa Sule, Samuel Ramos and Jake Young. Thomas scooped a great chance over the bar after a strong run from Young.
Celtic sub Sebastian Tounekti missed a stoppage-time sitter and Shim Mheuka rounded Chapman to net but was flagged offside after a VAR review.
