St Mirren 0-3 Celtic: McGregor stars in stroll

Celtic’s impressive start to the season continued apace with a comprehensive 3-0 Premiership win over St Mirren in Paisley.
The captain, Callum McGregor, fired the visitors ahead inside three minutes and his fellow midfielder Reo Hatate added a second in the 33rd minute as Celtic ignored the inclement weather to take control.
The Hoops defender Alistair Johnston swept in a third in the 71st minute to complete a convincing victory for the champions who have indicated their intentions early. Brendan Rodgers’ side have won all four games this season – scoring 12 and conceding just one – and should go into next Sunday’s Old Firm game against Rangers at Parkhead with supreme confidence.
There was no doubting the effort put in by Stephen Robinson’s men but they were well short and have now lost four games in a row. Saints were knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup last week by Dundee United so Robinson took action, with Killian Phillips making his debut after joining on loan from Crystal Palace.
On a wet and windy day in Paisley, the striker Adam Idah and the midfielder Paulo Bernardo came in to the Celtic side with Rodgers confirming the missing Matt O’Riley is on his way to Brighton, while Nicolas Kühn had to settle for a place among the substitutes.
There were less than three minutes played when McGregor picked up a pass from James Forrest outside the box and lasered a shot low past the Buddies keeper, Ellery Balcombe, for his second goal of the season, equalling last season’s tally.
In the 14th minute Balcombe made saves from Hatate and then Idah following a fine move from the Parkhead side. Balcombe used his foot to block the next effort from Idah after he had been sent clear by Bernardo. There was a VAR check for a Celtic penalty on the half-hour mark when Daizen Maeda went down in the box following a challenge by the already-booked Alex Gogic, but play continued.
Celtic soon doubled their lead though, Johnston’s lofted cross to the back post being headed back by Maeda for Hatate to drill a shot low in off the far post. There was another VAR check when Maeda when down in the area following a tackle by Shaun Rooney, but again no penalty was awarded.
Robinson brought on Mikael Mandron and Roland Idowu for Gogic and Jonah Ayunga at the start of the second half but Celtic retained the upper hand and continued to threaten. Kyogo Furuhashi and Kühn replaced Idah and Forrest just before the hour mark and eight minutes later Balcombe thwarted Furuhashi after the Japan striker raced on to Johnston’s defence-splitting pass. But it simply delayed what looked like the inevitable.
Moments later, Kühn drifted into the St Mirren box from the right and set up Johnston to knock the ball high into the net from 10 yards to make it 3-0. There was also time for the 18-year-old Francis Turley to make a late debut for Hatate as Celtic, who showed they remain a potent force even without the services of the influential Denmark midfielder O’Riley.