‘I’ve never seen that’ – Stephen Robinson left surprised at what Celtic did during St Mirren win

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Celtic kicked-off their Scottish Premiership campaign with a deserved win against St Mirren.

At times, Brendan Rodgers’ side huffed and puffed to try and break down the Paisley club’s defence but Celtic eventually beat St Mirren after a late Luke McCowan goal.

Had it not been for the woodwork, the scoreline could, and probably should, have been a lot more comfortable for Celtic.

However, as it was, the narrow 1-0 win puts Celtic joint-top with Hibs at the top of the Scottish Premiership table and it also left St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson feeling surprised at what he saw Rodgers’ team do late on in the game.

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Stephen Robinson says Celtic ‘wasting time’ is a ‘compliment’ to St Mirren

Celtic absolutely battered the St Mirren goal in the second-half of the opening day fixture and when the clock ticked down towards the end of the match, Robinson says what Rodgers’ side did was a ‘compliment’ to the Paisley club’s players.

Robinson told BBC Radio Sportsound [30m 29s], “Football is cruel. You get punished by good players and Celtic have got a lot of good players.

“I said before the game, look like St Mirren, play like St Mirren and press like St Mirren, don’t play with any kind of fear.

“And I don’t think any of them did. They tried to bypass us, we had positive substitutions, and we got beat.

“Celtic were wasting time with five minutes to go. I’ve never seen that. So I have to take that as a compliment.

“The boys have to take that as a compliment.”

What’s surprising is that Robinson never mentioned time-wasting when his team did it at every opportunity in the final game at Celtic Park last season, but, many Hoops supporters will know exactly what he means.

It’s rare that Celtic opt to do that at any point in a domestic fixture but as far as the first game of the season goes, the three points is all that matters and the Bhoys made sure of that.

With Rangers dropping points at Motherwell, this is the perfect start to the Scottish Premiership season for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers.

Celtic’s next tough fixture gives Brendan Rodgers a chance for revenge

Celtic’s next fixture pits Rodgers up against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

An away trip to the Dons is always a feisty affair but on this occasion there is a little bit of extra spice added to the game.

This is the first time the two clubs have met since the Scottish Cup final and a comprehensive win will help Celtic and the fans bury the ghosts of that Hampden disappointment.