St Mirren faced Celtic FC at home today. The home side had no answer to the Celtic pressure, who managed to leave Paisley with a 0-3 win and another three points.
The champions started dominantly right from the start. In the third minute Callum McGregor let one fly from outside the box, and found the top right corner. The ferocious shot could not be saved by the St Mirren goalie: 0-1.
Celtic continued their hunt for more goals. Rio Hatate got a powerful strike on goal, but this time Ellery Balcombe could stop the shot with an acrobatic save. Not much later Adam Idah, who recently signed a permanent deal with the Celts, got sent deep and stumbled on the legs of Balcombe once more.
In the 33th minute Rio Hatate fired another on target from inside the box. This time Balcombe couldn’t reach it, and saw the ball fly in the bottom right corner. Hatate scored his second of the season.
After the second goal of the afternoon St Mirren was on the back foot once again. Balcombe was forced to make another round of saves, while the Buddies defence were busy making several last ditch blocks. St Mirren was fortunate the half time whistle blew to catch their breath.
Kasper Schmeichel was forced to make his first save of the game in the second half. After a counter Jaydon Brown tried his luck from several yards outside the box. But the shot lacked power and direction. The ball ended up straight in the hands of the veteran Celtic goalkeeper.
Celtic consistently piled up the pressure. Balcombe made another strong save on a powerful shot from Kyogo Furuhashi. The shot got followed by a combination of play, in which Alistair Johnston received a return pass after a quality dribble from Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn. The Canadian fullback smashed the ball over and past Balcombe, making it 0-3 in the 71st minute. The same score with which the game ended.
In front of the BBC Scotland camera manager Brendan Rodgers expressed his delight about the way his team played. “In terms of performance and result, under really difficult conditions, I thought the players were really, really good right from the off.”
“You have to switch the play, and all three goals came from that. So yes, very pleased.”
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson credited the way Celtic played, while acknowledging his side did not have what it took to defeat the Scottish champions. “I first give credit to Celtic. It was a horrible day in Paisley. They done the simple things much better than us.”
“What people forget about really good sides is they pick up second balls, they do the hard stuff, they defend when they need to, they win headers, they win tackles, and then they play really good football. So it is a lesson for all of us. We did not do that today.”
“Were we the best version of ourselves? No. And if you are not you don’t beat Celtic,” the Buddies manager concluded.
Rodgers also commented on the imminent departure of midfielder Matt O’Riley. “Matt, brilliant player, a wonderful player for this club. I really had a great pleasure and privilege in working with him this past season or so. And seeing that development, he’s moved on. Fantastic for him. There’s an opportunity now for other players to come in and play for this great club.”
It’s expected the move from the talented 23-year-old midfielder to Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion will be officially announced in the coming days, with the move all but certain according to rumors.
Aberdeen is in the winning mood while Hearts struggle
On another pitch today Aberdeen FC faced Kilmarnock. For the home side Idrissa Gana Gueye played an important role at Pittodrie. Aberdeen built up the pressure, which eventually allowed Graeme Shinnie to get a cross into the Killie box. Gueye won the duel from his marker and headed the ball into the net. The goalkeeper had no chance: 1-0.
In the second half Brad Lyons made a dangerously high tackle on Ester Sokler. VAR intervened and called the referee to the screen. Lyons got sent off with a red card in the 58th minute. With ten men Kilmarnock’s afternoon went from bad to worse.
Aberdeen searched for the second. The pressure resulted in a corner for the home side in the 65th minute. The high ball in from Jamie McGrath found the head of Gueye once more, scoring his second of the afternoon. The ten from Kilmarnock secured further damage. The referee blew the whistle at 2-0. The win turns the unbeaten spell of Aberdeen to 8 games.
In Motherwell the home crowd could celebrate their first win of the season against Heart of Midlothian. The Steelmen scored three times, via Paul McGinn (2) and Tom Sparrow (1). Hearts could not find their stride away from home, finding the net only once via Yutaro Oda. Motherwell left the pitch 3-1.
Rangers stun Ross County and Hibernian draw
On Saturday three games were crossed off the Premiership calendar. Rangers FC faced Ross County. In front of the home crowd at Hampden Park Rangers battered the Staggies 6-0. Both Cyriel Dessers and Rabbi Matondo got their name on the scoresheet twice, with Matondo also contributing with two assists. Tom Lawrence and Danilo managed to get the ball into the net as well.
Hibernian versus Dundee FC ended in a 2-2 draw. Scott Tiffoney opened the scoring by smashing the ball into the net at the end of a combination of passes around the box. Hibernian managed to equalize at the stroke of half time via free kick by Martin Boyle that found the top right corner. Kieron Bowie made his first goal for Hibernian after a quality dribble, but the home side couldn’t hold on to the lead. Simon Murray tap the ball into the net in the 88th minute to make it 2-2.
Dundee United versus St Johnstone resulted in a 2-0 victory in front of the home crowd at Tannadice Park. Luca Stephenson found the net for United after half time. The 20-year-old scored his first of the season and his first for United. The Tanagerines scored another with the help of St Johnstone defender Jack Sanders. St Johnstone ended game with 10 men, after Adama Sidibeh got sent off.
At the end of the third Premiership weekend Celtic and Aberdeen top the table with nine points out of three. Kilmarnock remains at the bottom, with 0 points in the season to date.
