Celtic Breakthrough Against St Johnstone in Tense Glasgow Drama
At McDiarmid Park, Celtic finally cracked St Johnstone’s resistance thanks to a first goal in green and white for Mika Baur. It had been coming.
Callum Davidson, watching his old club on BBC Sportsound, could sense the pressure building before it told. Celtic had started to pin St Johnstone back, wave after wave, and Davidson admitted he was just about to say the hosts needed to survive that spell. They didn’t.
The key moment arrived when Haissem Hassan drove at the defence and fired a low ball across the box. Celtic had flooded the area, bodies everywhere, and Pat Bonner nailed the difference in one line: they had men in the right place.
Kasper Hogh lunged, trying desperately to make contact, but it was Baur who arrived with the composure and timing the move deserved. One clean touch, guided home. A simple finish, built on relentless pressure.
Before that, Celtic’s captain had tried to force the issue himself. Callum McGregor, never shy of a big moment, lined up a strike from the edge of the box. He couldn’t quite catch it, though, and the effort looped tamely into the arms of Toby Steward. It felt like a half-chance at the time. In hindsight, it was just another sign Celtic were edging closer.
When the breakthrough came, it was ruthless, direct and entirely in keeping with the momentum.
Rangers Rocked by St Mirren Threat
Across the country, Ibrox crackled and then crackled again for very different reasons. Rangers and St Mirren were locked at 0-0, but the scoreline told only part of the story.
The home support tried to drag their team forward, roaring them on as they pushed up the pitch. Then a loose pass in their own defensive third turned that noise sour. The atmosphere flipped in an instant, from backing to anxiety. From belief to muttering.
St Mirren sensed it. They grew into the second half, moved the ball with more confidence, and began to ask serious questions of a Rangers side that suddenly looked unsure.
Rory Loy, who knows both clubs, didn’t hide his admiration on BBC Sportsound. He described one St Mirren move as “what a move” – and it was. One pass sliced through the entire Rangers defence. Not one home shirt reacted quickly enough.
Fraser Taylor burst clear, straight through on goal. He had time, maybe too much of it. This was the moment. He had to put St Mirren 1-0 up.
Taylor advanced, chose his spot, but Ivor Pandur refused to blink. The Rangers goalkeeper held his ground, stayed almost on his line and made the save. A huge chance gone.
The chance looked even bigger in real time. A third-man run, perfectly timed, Taylor again racing clear with the whole goal to aim at. The commentary almost gasped: St Mirren will not get a better chance tonight. Surely. Yet the net still didn’t ripple.
As those opportunities slipped away, the mood inside Ibrox grew darker. Loy noted that St Mirren looked “far more comfortable” after the break, while the rumblings from the stands grew louder. Rangers had shifted shape again, back into a 4-2-3-1 with the introductions of Kim and Curtis, but the change did not immediately bring control.
This was a night where Celtic’s pressure finally produced a finish, and St Mirren’s composure in front of goal deserted them at the crucial moment.
For Rangers, the question lingers: how many more of these nervy, knife-edge evenings can they afford?
