Celtic started their Scottish Premiership title defence with a narrow 1-0 win over St Mirren, after hitting the woodwork four times at Celtic Park.
It means the reigning champions have won their opening league fixture in 17 of the last 18 seasons.
Brendan Rodgers’ frustrated side thought they had finally make the breakthrough with 20 minutes to play, through captain Callum McGregor’s devastating finish, but the strike was ruled out for handball after a swift VAR review.
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Celtic skipper, Callum McGregor thought he had scored the opener until it was disallowed due to hand-ball.
But less than 10 minutes after his introduction, Luke McCowan hit a shot that took a big deflection before nestling beyond Shamal George in the bottom right corner.
McGregor carried the Scottish Premiership trophy out onto the pitch at Celtic Park – following Celtic’s fourth straight triumph – before club legend Paul McStay hoisted the title flag to a rapturous ovation.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor carried the Scottish Premiership trophy onto the pitch before kick-off
Celtic legend Paul McStay then unfurled the title winners’ flag
The Hoops had put 11 past St Mirren across the first three meetings last term, and won by three goals on each occasion, but they had been held to a 1-1 draw on the very final day – and were almost similarly frustrated on the first day of 2025/26.
Daizen Maeda spurned a golden chance after 18 minutes, when he rounded George and opted to square with the goal gaping, but did not find a team-mate waiting to convert.
And it was not until the final kick of the first half they threatened meaningfully again, when debutant Benjamin Nygren met Maeda’s pull-back, which George expertly tipped onto the crossbar.
Just before the hour, Reo Hatate’s shot hit the post, then George, then the post again – and around 10 minutes later, McGregor buried a shot, only for a VAR review to chalk it off after the ball was adjudged to have hit his left arm before he struck it.
Luke McCowan hit Celtic’s winner after 88 minutes
When Adam Idah thundered a shot off the right-hand upright shortly afterwards, it really did seem as though it was not going to be Celtic’s day – until McCowan came to the rescue with three minutes of the 90 to play.
Boyd: Celtic always find a way to win
Sky Sports’ Kris Boyd:
“Celtic won the game but that performance was way off where it needs to be. There’s no way that Brendan Rodgers will look at that performance and think it was at the level it should be.
“It’s the first game of the season and Celtic have got three points, you can’t knock that, but you’re used to seeing Celtic destroy teams.
“McCowan does it so often, coming on and making a difference.
“That’s why Celtic have been so dominant in Scottish football for so long – even when they’re not at their best, they find a way to win.”
Rodgers: We’ll always keep going until the end
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Celtic boss, Brendan Rodgers discusses Luke McCowan’s late winner and skipper Callum McGregor’s disallowed goal.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers:
“We played ever so well. The goalkeeper has made so many great saves, the guys kept pushing, some of our football was outstanding against a team that’s so well-drilled and so well-organised.
“I have to congratulate the players, because the persistence that they showed throughout the game to keep driving forward, and the impact of the guys coming into the game, was excellent. It was a really, really important win.
“It’s the story of this club, we keep going right to the very end. We never settle for a draw, we always want to win, and the players got the reward for showing that hunger to do that.”
On any incoming players: “I don’t know, we’ll wait until the end of the month. We’ll concentrate on the players that are here, and we hope to do some business over the period, but I’m not going to get bogged down in it. We know what we need, so we continue to work and play like we did today.”
Robinson: Losing to deflected goal is hard to take
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson:
“It’s tough to take because our level of performance was good. We knew that Celtic would change and throw subs on and more energy as well, but we tried to match that at half-time. We felt we were right in the game and put another centre-forward on.
“We had a couple of half-chances, rode our luck a little bit as well with some of the ones that hit the post, but to lose that to a deflected goal is hard to take.
“A lot of teams come here and it’s a free hit. It’s not for us. We expect to come here and put a real game to them. I believe we did, and it’s now about continuing that performance and get points on the board next week.”
