Celtic's Yang Shines but Faces Absence Ahead
Celtic will board the plane to Perth and then into a bruising Old Firm run without one of their sharpest weapons. Martin O’Neill knows it, and he didn’t bother hiding it.
Yang Hyun-jun, the South Korean winger who has suddenly caught fire, signed off in style in Paisley, scoring the winner in a 2-1 comeback victory over St Mirren before heading for the Asian Games in Japan.
He leaves a gap you can see from here.
Yang signs off with a reminder
This was only his second consecutive start. It brought a second consecutive goal.
With the game stretched midway through the second half, Celtic broke from deep. Yang burst forward on the counter, timing his run and finish to tilt a frantic contest their way. One clean strike, one decisive moment, and the points were heading back to Glasgow.
O’Neill could only admire – and then immediately confront the reality.
"We are going to miss him. He’s in really fine form at the moment," the Celtic manager admitted. If South Korea fail to win the tournament, the 24-year-old faces national service. "I hope they do win it," O’Neill added, half-joking, fully serious.
For now, Yang departs having given Celtic exactly what they needed. "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."
He hobbled off with an ice pack strapped to his leg, sparking brief concern. O’Neill quickly played that down. "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."
Celtic will hope that’s the last scare. They already know he will miss the midweek trip to St Johnstone, both looming clashes with Rangers and the Europa League opener against Ferencvaros. It’s a brutal stretch to be without a winger in this kind of form.
St Mirren surge, then Celtic bite back
For a long spell, this looked like St Mirren’s night.
Midway through the first half, the hosts seized their chance. Liam Scales handled in the box, and Nikolas Agrafiotis stepped up to bury the penalty. Paisley roared. Celtic rocked.
St Mirren didn’t stop there. They pressed, harried and attacked with purpose, racking up 19 shots on target over the course of the evening. At half-time, they were not just leading Celtic – they were heading for the top of the William Hill Premiership.
"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."
That honesty told you everything about how uncomfortable Celtic had been.
The response after the break told you everything about why they still win these games.
They came out with what O’Neill called "renewed energy, renewed determination". Six minutes after the restart, Scales made amends. The Irish defender rose to meet a cross and powered in the equaliser, turning anxiety into intent.
From there, Celtic pushed higher, moved the ball quicker, and eventually broke St Mirren’s resistance with that sweeping counter finished by Yang.
It was not pretty. It was not controlled. But it was ruthless.
McLeish stands by his principles
The decisive moment came from a mistake. Camilo Duran robbed Ryan Carr, 10 yards inside the Celtic half, and the move unfolded from there. One turnover, one punch to the gut.
Yet St Mirren head coach Craig McLeish refused to abandon his blueprint.
"I thought there were so many good parts about our play," he said. His frustration lay in the detail, not the idea. "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 knows where the risk lies. He’s not backing away from it.
"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."
That bravery was obvious in the closing stages. Even at 2-1 down, St Mirren refused to go long and panic. They kept playing, kept probing, and – as McLeish pointed out – probably produced their strongest spell of the game when chasing the equaliser.
"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.
"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 win – but at a cost
O’Neill called it "a tough evening". He was right. Celtic had to absorb pressure, ride out a spell where they were "well and truly second best", and lean on the edge that comes from players like Yang who can change a game in a single burst.
They leave Paisley with three points and a reminder of their resilience.
They also leave without their in-form winger for a run that could shape their season at home and in Europe.
Yang’s last act, for now, was to drag them over the line. The question now is simple: who steps up when he’s on the other side of the world?
