Yang strikes to seal the points for Celtic over St Mirren | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipThe Marbill Coaches Stadium, PaisleySaturday, August 5, 2026

ST MIRREN…1(Agrafiotis 22)

CELTIC…2(Scales 51, Yang 68)

Celtic came back from a goal down to win 2-1 away against St Mirren tonight, with second-half goals from Liam Scales and Yang sealing three points for Martin O’Neill’s men.

St Mirren's Fraser Taylor found himself with an early shooting chance from the edge of the box, but his powerful effort rose way over the bar and crashed off the underside of the roof of the stand in which the travelling Celtic faithful were housed.

Soon after, it was Celtic’s turn to have a shot at goal, and after a perfectly-weighted long ball from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Yang was able to get a shot towards the target from close range, but his effort hit the base of the post and went behind for a goal kick.

Fraser Taylor clearly felt confident with shots from distance, and whilst his first effort rattled the roof, his second with just short of 20 minutes gone demanded a good diving save from Viljami Sinisalo.

From the resulting corner, Nikolas Agrafiotis found himself with a shooting opportunity from outside the box. His powerful strike hit the hand of Liam Scales in the penalty area and after the referee’s penalty decision was confirmed by VAR, Agrafiotis put St Mirren 1-0 ahead from the spot.

Celtic looked to respond quickly, and after another St Mirren corner, Mika Baur sprung the counter-attack, sending a good ball forward to Camilo Durán who drew a good save from Jacob Chapman with an effort from just inside the box.

Martin O’Neill’s men thought they had levelled the game just before the half-hour mark when Camilo Durán knocked the ball in to the net after a chip over the keeper from Yang, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review and the home side’s one-goal advantage remained intact.

Five minutes before half-time, Callum McGregor, who scored a late winner in Paisley last season, drew a good save from the home side’s keeper with an effort from 12 yards out that looked like it was looping in to the top corner. 

Early in the second half, Yang had a massive opportunity to level the scoreline when he got on the end of a dangerous ball to the back post from Haissem Hassan, but the Korean’s effort went wide of the target.

Celtic looked hungry to find an equaliser, and the leveller they were searching for was found five minutes in to the second half when a well-taken corner from Benjamin Nygren was glanced in to the net by Liam Scales, who had anticipated the front-post ball and was on hand to make the all-important contact with his head.

Scales almost scored an identical goal from the opposite side just moments later, though this time his glancing effort from a Mika Baur corner crept just wide of the far post.

With an hour gone, the momentum was with Celtic, and Yang found himself with another chance after Hassan slipped a sensational ball through to Benjamin Nygren, who cut it back towards South Korean winger on the penalty spot, but the home side’s keeper was quick off of his line to shut down the shot and prevent the goal.

That momentum swung even further towards Celtic with 67 minutes gone when Camilo Durán showed brilliant desire to win the ball back in the middle of the park, sparking a swift attack for Martin O’Neill’s men who went charging through on goal.

The Celts had the numerical advantage in the attack, with four forwards up against two defenders, and a good through ball from Durán gave Yang a one-on-one opportunity against the keeper which he duly took, coolly slotting the ball in to the net to make it 2-1.

With 20 minutes remaining, Martin O’Neill made a triple change, bringing Yang, Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan off for Sebastian Tounekti, Oliver Sørensen and James Forrest.

The home side put up a good fight to try and find an equaliser of their own, and with 10 minutes to go Viljami Sinisalo produced two big saves just moments apart, denying both Eseosa Sule and Samuel Ramos.

There was another change for Celtic with 82 minutes gone as Camilo Durán, who was a handful for the St Mirren defence all night, was replaced by youngster Shumaira Mheuka. That change was soon followed by another as Colby Donovan was replaced by Dane Murray.

Mheuka looked like he had put the game beyond any doubt in stoppage time when he showed great strength to overcome the attentions of a St Mirren defender before knocking the ball beyond the keeper and finishing from a tight angle, but for the second time in the game, the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

With another three points in the bag, the Hoops will now turn their attentions to Wednesday night’s trip to Perth to face St Johnstone.