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Oliver Walton

Sun 3 August 2025 18:56, UK

Celtic began the defence of their Scottish Premiership title with a late 1-0 win over St Mirren on the opening day of the new campaign.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side struggled to create any real openings, but Luke McCowan won the game in the latter stages after Callum McGregor had seen his opener chalked off.

New signing Benjamin Nygren had the best chance of the first-half, but his close-range shot was well-saved by St Mirren goalkeeper Shamal George.

Club captain McGregor thought he had found the breakthrough in the 68th minute with a fine strike from the edge of the box, but his goal was ruled out for handball after a VAR check.

That left the Hoops desperately searching for a winner as the clock ticked on, and it was McCowan with a deflected finish off the bench in the 87th minute to hand them all three points in the first league game of 2025/26.

(Credit: Imago)

Kasper Schmeichel – 7

Had very little to do, especially in the second half, with just two saves made all game.

Showed off his impressive distribution by trying to get Celtic counter-attacks started quickly, but to no avail.

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Alistair Johnston – 7

Impressed in the first-half with some good bursts down the right side to help his side get forward, with some decent crosses put in too.

Cameron Carter-Vickers – 6

Displayed his strength and pace on occasion but was sometimes too passive in his defending, letting Mikael Mandron get into the game more than he would have likely expected to.

Liam Scales – 6

Similar to his centre-back partner, Scales was rarely seriously troubled but has had better games than this showing.

Will feel aggrieved at his goal being disallowed after a controversial VAR call.

Reo Hatate – 6

Hatate was not his usual self with a largely anonymous showing in the middle of the park, but he could have scored after his deflected shot nearly dropped into the net in the second-half.

Hyun-Jun Yang – 5

Yang did not do much to warrant keeping his starting place going forward, despite a bright start, and will do well to stay in the team when Jota is back fit for the Glasgow giants.

Adam Idah – 5

It was a poor performance to kick the new season off by Republic of Ireland international Idah, who missed two big chances and hit the woodwork from close range late on after lashing at his shot.

Daizen Maeda – 6

Maeda did grab a late assist for McCowan’s goal, but mostly struggled to affect the game despite having a whopping 65 touches.

(Credit: Imago)

James Forrest (on for Yang 59?) – 6

Did what he needed to do by making good runs into the box to stretch St Mirren’s tiring defence late on.

Missed a decent chance late on as his volley went flying over the crossbar.

Auston Trusty (on for Tierney 65?) – 6

Mainly quiet showing as Celtic rarely had to defend late on.

Will hope for more starts going forward after just 22 league appearances last term.

Johnny Kenny (on for Idah 78?) – 6

Kenny arguable did more than Idah in his late cameo at Parkhead.

The 22-year-old will want to be Rodgers’ go-to man after impressing on loan at Shamrock Rovers.

Arne Engels (on for Hatate 78?) – 6

The Belgian midfielder was simply on the pitch to tick things over late on.
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