Celtic 1 – 0 St Mirren

Celtic continued to put pressure on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts with a 1-0 win over St Mirren.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first-half strike saw Martin O’Neill’s side move ahead of Rangers into second place and remain three points clear of Hearts, who had a late win over Motherwell.

Celtic were far from their best despite a quick start, with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s low shot into the bottom right corner having one ruled out for offside after just 15 minutes.

St Mirren only had one shot on target as the hosts missed chances to extend their lead. In the second half, substitute Kelechi Iheanacho had a great chance to equalize with a shot from close range, but they narrowly won.

It was the first time the two teams had met since December, when St Mirren clinched the Premier Sports Cup with a 3-1 win over Celtic, but the chances of a repeat were never high.

The Green Brigade were allowed into Celtic Park for the first time since November and were in high spirits as they rehearsed for next week’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

After continued Celtic pressure, the hosts thought they had taken the lead five minutes later when Callum McGregor’s shot was parried away by Shamal George and the rebound was buried by Oxlade-Chamberlain, but he was flagged for offside.

St Mirren’s Jonah Ayunga raced into the box and fired a shot that went wide of the left post, and with the visitors looking to score, Miguel Freckleton’s shot in the 13th minute was saved by Villami Sinisalo in the bottom left corner.

However, Celtic took the lead in the 15th minute when Benjamin Nygren set up McGregor, his shot was blocked by Alex Gogic, but Kieran Tierney flicked out Oxlade-Chamberlain, who curled his shot into the bottom right corner.

Tomas Kvankala almost doubled Celtic’s lead in the 28th minute when he slipped in from Daenen Maeda’s cut-back from the left, but collided with George, who received treatment for four minutes and was replaced by Ryan Mullen in the 32nd minute.

In the 36th minute of the match, Malen was brought on after Maeda played well on the left side and blocked Kvankala. A minute later Nygren tried his luck with a rising shot, but Mullen saved it at the left post.

St Mirren’s Mikael Mandron headed in Declan John’s corner kick in first-half stoppage time.

In the second half, there was a lot of confusion in the midfield, and neither team created many chances. Iheanacho missed a great opportunity at the near post from a low cross.

In the 82nd minute, St Mirren’s Manchester United loanee Jacob Devaney fired a long-range shot, but Sinisalo had no problem and five minutes later he saved Roland Idowu’s low shot.

O’Neill: I was worried about the lack of energy.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told Sky Sports:

“We won the game which was the most important thing, but we lacked energy. In the second half we gave up the ball too easily and gave St Mirren a strong phase of the game. They played very well.”

“That was the energy that concerned me the most, we just didn’t seem to have it.

“Sometimes things like that happen. You’re chasing the title and we’re always playing catch-up. We don’t have any room for maneuver. When we got the first goal, we felt we had to consolidate it and get the second goal. We didn’t do that and you’re inviting teams.”

“It was good that we were able to keep a clean sheet.”

MacLeish: Lacking creative spark.

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish told Sky Sports:

“It’s disappointing not to take points from the game. The way the season is now, you have to get points. There were a lot of parts of our performance, especially in the second half, and that’s how we wanted to play.”

“We’re missing a little bit of creativity and flair in the final third to create chances from open play.

“We have to remember where we are and who we’re playing because it’s a very difficult place to come and get points.”

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