St Mirren defeated holders Celtic 3–1 at Hampden Park in the final to win the Scottish League Cup for the second time in their history.
Jonah Ayunga’s double in the second half resulted in Celtic losing their third straight game, still without a win under new manager Wilfried Nancy.
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson led his team to a third consecutive top-six finish, qualifying for Europe for the first time in 36 years and winning a major trophy. He will forever be remembered at Paisley as a club legend.
Wilfried Nancy loses his first three games as Celtic manager
The Buddies shocked the holders within the first two minutes when Marcus Fraser found the net with a stooping front post header from a Keanu Backus corner kick.
And Nancy’s team was lucky to avoid falling further behind.
St Mirren exploited their opponents with intricate one-touch passing moves, and in the 15th minute Declan John plated the ball for Dan Nrndur. However, the striker held his head as he sent it wide from the six-yard line.
Despite the obvious defensive fragility, Celtic actually looked much more fluid in attack. Kelechi Iheanacho and Daen Maeda performed well before the former was sidelined with a hamstring injury, while Kieran Tierney excelled in the more advanced position of left wing-back.
Tierney’s signature deep whipped crosses were causing problems for St Mirren. As a result, Iheanacho, Maeda and Hatate came close to scoring, and Hatate leveled the score in the 23rd minute with a perfectly timed sliding volley that hit the back post.
Celtic’s Reo Hatate scores equalizer against St Mirren
Celtic cheers cheered the team up, but only for a few minutes.
After Iheanacho was sent off, they lost focus and St Mirren looked comfortable for the rest of the game. Robinson’s men defended admirably, but from the front rather than from the rear.
In the second period they did not face a barrage of shots, but rather suffocated Celtic at the source with deft pressing and shape, with the constant threat of counter-attacks.
St Mirren then regained the lead with a goal from Jonah Ayunga in the 64th minute. The towering forward bravely headed Alex Godzic’s first-time out-of-the-boot delicate cross past the onrushing Kasper Schmeichel. But he didn’t stop there.
Ayunga, who will be remembered as the hero of the day, added his second goal 12 minutes later to seal the match.
St Mirren’s Marcus Fraser opened the scoring after two minutes against Celtic
Declan John broke the Celtic backline with one easy run before slipping the ball into the box for Ayunga to fire home. The striker took off his shirt in celebration before hugging the St Mirren fan. he knew he had won.
Faith over fear was the rallying cry of the supporters and manager. Only one team looked scary today and they weren’t going to go home with the cup.
St Mirren Football Club: A club that deserves to win the 2025 Scottish League Cup.
Nancy: Celtic ready to click forward
Nancy’s nightmare start to Celtic’s reign continued with three straight defeats.
He became the first Celtic manager to lose his opening two games, defeats to Hearts and Roma, but his unwanted hat-trick will put further pressure on the Celtic board.
But Nancy believes her team is ready despite the three-game losing streak.
“I really believe we click and move forward,” Nancy said.
“We had a wave attack in the first half and that’s what we want to do.
“We’re a little vulnerable right now, but my job is to give them confidence.”
“I’m happy to be here at this moment. I accept the challenge.”
Two-goal hero Ayunga: I didn’t think the final would go any other way
Two-goal hero Ayunga revealed his pre-match confidence after St Mirren’s 3-1 win over Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final.
Ayunga told Premier Sports: “I didn’t think this was going to go any other way. I never thought for a second that we would lose. We were all in this together.”
“I’ve been playing professional football since I was 17/18 years old. This is my first cup final and maybe my only final. It was the same for a lot of the boys in the team. We had to seize it.”
