For Celtic, with St Mirren visiting, certain clichés ring true.
These are all “cup finals”. Each game matters. With just a smattering of matches left until the the end of the season, Celtic held a 3-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership before kick-off tonight. As we saw on Sunday, we can’t really afford to ride our luck.
Ange Postecoglou wouldn’t put up with that, anyway. Given the insipid performances against Bodo/Glimt and Hibernian, there was real pressure on everything the boss did tonight. The starting line-up, the combinations in midfield and up front, it was all crucial.
The first-half was frustrating, sure. Admittedly, Celtic got through some nice phases of build-up play, but that final ball just didn’t come. Maeda was a bit unlucky, with half-chances and passes coming just a bit too quickly. His runs were, as ever, encouraging. Have he and the wingers clicked, though? We’ll get to that.
It took a goal from – of all sources – a set-piece and Cameron Carter-Vickers to break the deadlock. With St Mirren packing bodies into the 18-yard-box, scoring from open play was always going to be a tall order. We knew that from our last meeting with the Buddies, a frustrating night in Paisley and a goalless draw.
This one, though, would be different.
What did we learn as Celtic got past St Mirren?
Celtic can make use of set-pieces after all as St Mirren gift the Hoops
When we needed a goal, St Mirren provided. A sloppy, late challenge saw a free-kick near the edge of the box, at a good angle.
And our two tall centre-backs delivered. With Starfelt rising to win the initial ball, Carter-Vickers just had to steamroller it home to make it 1-0.
We’ve talked plenty about defending set pieces, and the woes therein. However, Celtic under Ange Postecoglou get their fair share of corners and free kicks. It’s just that, normally, the Bhoys haven’t done anything with them. That was true tonight, in a sense, given that we’d won 6 corners by the 70 minute mark [Fotmob].
This is evidence, though, that Celtic actually can use these opportunities.
And thank God we did; credit has to go to Stephen Robinson’s St Mirren and their resolute defending throughout. The Hoops really were limited from open play, and another goalless draw was a real concern.
Is this the start of a trend, or the exception that proves the rule? Here’s hoping it’s the former and not the latter.
Maeda and the Celtic wingers are yet to really click
Before kick-off tonight, we spoke about Daizen Maeda. After an explosive start, it feels a bit like tiredness from a full 2021 J League season has caught up with him.
Tonight, that was both true and untrue. The fact is, Maeda still makes really good runs. He was more than a little unfortunate when Matt O’Riley’s perfectly angled pass ran a bit too long. Or when Hatate caught him off-guard with a quick cross he couldn’t convert.
There’ll be theories aplenty and, sadly, more criticism lobbed Maeda’s way, because we know by now that he can be extremely effective. It might just be the case, though, that he’s still gelling with Jota and Abada.
The pair are always enterprising, and they’ve been excellent providers for both Kyogo and Giakoumakis. But these things take time. It’s clear they just don’t have the telepathic understanding they need with Kyogo as of yet, and that’s entirely understandable.
You sense that when it does click, it’s going to be something quite special. It might be a bit of a waiting game, though.
Cameron Carter-Vickers gets the goal his recent performances have deserved as St Mirren put to sword
Cameron Carter-Vickers deserved that.
A lot of the talk regarding Carter-Vickers has been about whether or not he’ll stay at Celtic. Interest from the Premier League, interest from the Championship. It’s not as if he needed a big game, but hopefully his goal will put focus on his excellent performances.
Leaving the goal aside for a second; Carter-Vickers had recovered the ball 8 times by the 80th minute. His passing was excellent, almost always positive, and he was a key part in pinning St Mirren in their own half. He was winning his duels, seeing plenty of the ball, and winning everything in the air [Fotmob].
That’s typical of him this season. The guy has been a rock in our defence, and make absolutely no mistake. This was also a positive performance from Carl Starfelt, and the duo had no trouble swatting away occasional St Mirren attacks.
As much as the front three are expected to defend, the defence is meant to attack. That includes the centre-backs, and their playing out the back was the reason behind all the positives of this performance.
So when Carter-Vickers got his goal, it was a sweet moment. The guy deserves it. It’s great to talk about his game again, and not the uncertainty surrounding him.
Read more: Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou explains the absence of Giakoumakis against St Mirren
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