Craig McLeish has delivered his post match assessment after St. Mirren suffered a narrow 2:1 defeat to Celtic in a dramatic Scottish Premiership encounter, with his comments quickly attracting attention from supporters. Despite losing the game, the St. Mirren manager made it clear that he was proud of his players and believed they had shown enough character to trouble the reigning champions.
St. Mirren started the contest with confidence and took the lead through Nikolas Agrafiotis from the penalty spot after Liam Scales was penalised for handball following a VAR review. The hosts looked organised and aggressive, giving Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side plenty of problems during the opening period.
Celtic, however, responded strongly after the interval. Scales made amends for his earlier mistake by heading home the equaliser from a corner, before Yang Hyun-jun completed the comeback in the 68th minute. The South Korean winger’s goal ultimately proved decisive as Celtic held on for all three points.
Speaking after the match, McLeish did not attempt to hide his disappointment. Instead, he focused on the positives from his team’s performance and insisted that St. Mirren had demonstrated the mentality required to compete against one of the strongest sides in the division.
McLeish praised the effort of his players and highlighted their refusal to surrender after Celtic turned the match around. He also admitted that conceding the two goals would leave the Saints disappointed, particularly because they had worked so hard to put themselves in a winning position.
The St. Mirren boss also pointed out that his team continued creating opportunities after falling 2:1 behind. Rather than collapsing under pressure, the hosts produced some of their best attacking moments late in the match and came close to finding an equaliser. His assessment was that St. Mirren were unfortunate not to take something from the encounter.
That assessment underlines how competitive the match became. Celtic entered the fixture with a perfect domestic record, while St. Mirren had also made an impressive start to the campaign. The meeting therefore represented a major test for McLeish’s side, and although the result went against them, their performance suggested they could compete with the league’s leading teams.
There was also plenty of controversy surrounding the match. VAR was involved in several major decisions, including the penalty that gave St. Mirren the lead and an offside decision that ruled out a Celtic goal. Technical problems with the VAR system also caused delays, adding another layer of drama to an already intense contest.
For Martin O’Neill, the victory maintained Celtic’s perfect Premiership start and moved them five points clear at the top of the table. The Celtic manager admitted afterwards that St. Mirren had played extremely well and caused his team numerous problems. He also acknowledged that Celtic did not always display the fluency they had shown in previous matches, although he felt the visitors created enough opportunities to deserve the victory.
One of the biggest talking points was Yang’s decisive contribution. The winger scored the winning goal in what proved to be his final Celtic appearance for a period before joining South Korea’s squad for the Asian Games. O’Neill admitted that Celtic would miss the player, particularly given his recent run of form.
For McLeish, however, the bigger picture appears to be about development. Rather than allowing the defeat to damage his team’s confidence, he stressed that St. Mirren must learn from the experience and continue improving
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The defeat may therefore prove valuable for the Saints. They pushed Celtic hard, recovered from setbacks during the match and created opportunities even after falling behind. McLeish’s message was clear: St. Mirren cannot afford to become satisfied with simply competing. They must use demanding matches such as this one as lessons for the remainder of the campaign.
Ultimately, Celtic left Paisley with the three points, but St. Mirren left with plenty of encouragement. McLeish’s post match verdict showed disappointment without losing sight of the progress his team has made. With performances like this, the Saints will believe they can continue challenging higher up the Scottish Premiership table.
