Celtic secured a late victory over St Mirren last Saturday before the title party commenced on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season.
Despite the main events centring around Callum McGregor collecting the league trophy and Joe Hart’s farewell, the Bhoys had to dig deep against a spirited St Mirren outfit to guarantee three points.
Mark O’Hara’s double forced Celtic replies through Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi, leaving the clash at level pegging heading into the second half.
Eventually, Luis Palma forced the issue four minutes from time at the back post to fittingly start off a day of celebration for supporters the world over, who have had to wait patiently for success to grace their club this season.
Nevertheless, St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson gave some of his thoughts in the aftermath of proceedings, making some intriguing observations about what he saw last weekend.
Stephen Robinson’s assessment of St Mirren’s trip to Celtic
St Mirren came off second best in a highly competitive outing in Glasgow’s east end. Per Fotmob, Celtic recorded an Expected Goals total of 2.46 to the visitors’ 1.32, had more shots on goal and created five ‘big chances’ compared with the Buddies’ three.
Giving his take on the game, Robinson was proud of his side’s performance against Brendan Rodgers’ men, lauding his team for running the Hoops close on their day of destiny. On the flip side, he did also acknowledge the ‘quality’ they were up against.
He stated [Cited via The Daily Record]: “I thought the boys were excellent. It’s as long as we’ve looked in control of the game. They are a quality side. We matched them for large portions, and our shape out of possession was very, very good.
“Ultimately, we haven’t got a point no matter how well we played but it just shows you how far this football club has come that you can come and go toe-to-toe with Celtic.
“The emotions and the atmosphere; we said try and control that for the first 15 minutes of both halves. We managed to do that and take the lead.
“We were disappointed in the last goal – and the two other goals. That was the only disappointment of the day. We’ve lots to improve on but, as an overriding emotion for the season, I’m super proud of this group of boys.”
Celtic said goodbye to the league season in great style
It may not have been a vintage display on show last weekend; however, Celtic showed the same late heroics they needed to produce on countless occasions to claim the Scottish Premiership title.
Despite the pressure being off, the group’s standards remain the same, which can only bode well for the Scottish Cup final against Rangers on Saturday.
One final push is all that remains for Celtic at the national stadium before everyone connected with the club can embark on a well-earned break for the summer.