Celtic Find Their Edge in Premiership Victory

Celtic finally punched through at McDiarmid Park while Rangers toiled under growing tension at Ibrox on a nervy night in the Premiership.

Celtic’s patience rewarded

At St Johnstone, the pattern had been clear for a spell. Celtic tightening their grip, the hosts dropping deeper, the pressure slowly building.

Callum Davidson, watching his old club on BBC Sportsound, sensed it coming. St Johnstone, he warned, just needed to ride out the spell. They couldn’t.

The breakthrough arrived with the kind of move Celtic had been searching for all evening. Haissem Hassan drove a low ball across the face of goal, the box packed with green and white shirts. Kasper Hogh threw himself at it, but it was Mika Baur who arrived with the decisive touch, tapping in his first Celtic goal.

“They had bodies in the box, that's the difference,” said former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner. “There Baur was and all he had to do was get a good contact. Good play from Hassan.”

Before the goal, Celtic had threatened from range. Callum McGregor, so often the man for the big moment, lined up a shot on the edge of the box. He couldn’t catch it cleanly, and the effort looped tamely into the arms of Toby Steward. It felt like a nearly moment.

Baur made sure the next big chance did not go to waste.

Rangers feel the strain

Across the country, the mood at Ibrox could hardly have been more different.

Rangers and St Mirren were locked at 0-0, the game finely poised, the atmosphere swinging wildly with every misplaced pass. When the home side strung a move together, the crowd roared them on. When they coughed up possession in their own third, that backing turned edgy in an instant.

“This could go either way,” came the verdict as the tension rose.

St Mirren then carved out the kind of chance that can define a night. A clever third-man run from Fraser Taylor sliced straight through the Rangers back line. One pass, and the entire defence was taken out of the game.

Taylor was in. Clean through, time to think, time to choose his finish.

He chose wrong.

Ivor Pandur held his ground, barely moving from his line, and made the save. The away end could hardly believe it. Neither could former Rangers and St Mirren striker Rory Loy on BBC Sportsound.

“What a move,” Loy said. “The pass takes out the whole Rangers defence and none of the home players react. Fraser Taylor is straight through. He has to put his team 1-0 up. Maybe he has too much time to think about it, but it's a glorious opportunity spurned.”

The warning was clear. St Mirren would not expect a better chance.

As the second half wore on, it was the visitors who looked the more assured.

“St Mirren have looked far more comfortable in this second half and the rumblings are coming from the Rangers fans,” Loy observed. With changes made and Kim and Curtis on, Rangers shifted back into a 4-2-3-1 shape, searching for control they never fully grasped.

The game stayed on a knife-edge. The anxiety in the stands told its own story.

Celtic had found a way to turn pressure into points. Rangers were still searching for that same ruthlessness, with the noise around them growing louder by the minute.