Celtic Triumph Over St Mirren Despite Yang's Departure
Celtic will be without one of their in-form attackers for some of the season’s first real flashpoints. At least he left them with a reminder of what they are about to miss.
Yang Hyun-jun struck the winner in Paisley as Celtic came from behind to beat St Mirren 2-1, the South Korean winger scoring for the second game in a row before packing his bags for Japan and the Asian Games.
Yang’s farewell – for now
The 24-year-old decided this one on the break midway through the second half, racing clear to finish a counter-attack and flip a fraught night in Celtic’s favour. It was the kind of composed, decisive moment that has quickly made him a fixture in Martin O’Neill’s plans.
Now O’Neill has to do without him.
"We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment," the Celtic manager admitted, fully aware of what lies ahead. Yang’s call-up means he will sit out the midweek trip to St Johnstone, both upcoming clashes with Rangers and the Europa League opener against Ferencvaros.
There is more riding on his international campaign than medals. South Korea’s players can avoid national service if they win the tournament.
"If they don’t win the tournament, then he has to do (national) service. I hope they do win it," O’Neill said. "But he’s signed off with a brilliant goal. He’s in great form and he’ll work for you going backwards. He doesn’t mind doing the hard graft."
Yang left the pitch with an ice pack strapped to his leg, a brief scare on a night already laden with jeopardy. O’Neill played down any concern.
"He’s OK. If he’d got up a little bit earlier, I think maybe we might have continued with him. But he looked shaken up a bit, so we took him off."
Saints seize control, Celtic hit back
For long spells, this looked like St Mirren’s statement evening. They went in at half-time not only 1-0 up but on the brink of going top of the William Hill Premiership, having peppered Celtic with 19 shots on target and forced the champions into some desperate defending.
The breakthrough came midway through the first half. Liam Scales handled in the box, and Nikolas Agrafiotis stepped up to bury the penalty. From there, the home side surged. Celtic sagged.
"They played very, very well indeed," O’Neill admitted. "Caused us plenty of problems and took the lead. A 10 or 15-minute spell in the first half where I thought we were well and truly second best."
The interval changed the tone. Celtic emerged sharper, more aggressive, and crucially, more direct. Six minutes after the restart, Scales atoned for his earlier error, rising to head home the equaliser and rip away the momentum that had been building in the stands.
The pressure finally told again on the counter. With St Mirren pushing high, Celtic’s winner came from a turnover deep in their own territory: Camilo Duran robbed Ryan Carr 10 yards inside the Hoops half, and the move unfolded ruthlessly from there, ending with Yang’s decisive finish.
"It was a tough evening for us," O’Neill said. "We came out with renewed energy, renewed determination in the second half, got the equalising goal and went on to win it."
McLeish backs brave St Mirren approach
The decisive moment stemmed from exactly the kind of risk St Mirren head coach Craig McLeish is asking his players to take. They want the ball, they want to build, and they are willing to live with the consequences.
"I thought there were so many good parts about our play," McLeish said. "Probably the little bit of frustration was when we were a wee bit loose in possession. The first half, Celtic’s chances come from us giving the ball away at times when we should be more secure on it.
"And then even the second goal, that comes from us not being secure on the ball."
He refused to blame his players for sticking to the plan.
"We can’t then turn round and have a pop at the boys for that. We’re asking them to play, we’re asking them to be brave on the ball. We just need to keep doing it better at times, we need to keep building on it."
St Mirren did not retreat after falling behind. If anything, they grew bolder.
"Throughout the night we carried a threat. Even when we go 2-1 down, we show so much bravery and personality to keep going and keep playing," McLeish said. "We probably have our strongest spell of the game and create some really good chances, probably unlucky not to take one of them.
"It probably shows where we’re at: we’re so disappointed with not coming away with anything."
Celtic leave Paisley with three points and a rising star heading halfway around the world. The question now is simple: with Rangers, Europe and a title race looming, how much will they feel Yang’s absence when the next big night arrives?
