ST MIRREN 1 CELTIC 2: Yang rides to the rescue as Martin O’Neill’s men come back from behind to win

For all these early weeks of the new season may have been coloured by the most humiliating of episodes in Europe, domestic matters remain a very different story for Celtic.

Martin O’Neill’s side rallied in Paisley last night and turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Liam Scales and Hyun-jun Yang in the second half.

In doing so, Celtic maintained their flawless start to the new Premiership season, making it five wins from five — and making clear that they remain the team to beat in Scotland as they once again sit top of the pile.

Whilst the Champions League exit to LASK Linz remains a major blot on the copybook this term, an upcoming league and cup double-header against Rangers over the next fortnight offers O’Neill and his players the chance to shift the narrative somewhat.

O’Neill made only one change from the team that thumped Aberdeen 3-0 in midweek, with Mika Baur coming into midfield to replace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Camilo Duran continued to operate as the central striker in the absence of Kasper Hogh — and the Colombian forward has already shown enough in these early weeks of the new season to suggest he will be a quality addition after joining from Qarabag.

St Mirren came into the match as the only other unbeaten team in this season’s Premiership. Craig McLeish’s men had won three of their opening four matches, the latest of which had come away at Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.

Although the match was live on Sky Sports, the 8pm kick-off on a Saturday night did not deter both sets of fans from packing out the stadium in good numbers.

Celtic no doubt travelled to Paisley in confident mood given that they had won each of their last five league visits in these parts by an aggregate score of 17-3 — including a dramatic late victory last season.

Playing on the right of the front three, Haissem Hassan was having some joy in the early stages and breezed past St Mirren left-back Declan John on a few occasions. But the Saints eventually began to trouble Celtic with a few nice moves of their own.

McLeish has progressively tried to implement a more possession-based approach since taking over from Stephen Robinson last season. There can be times when his team are their own worst enemy, guilty of overplaying in some risky areas, but there are also times when it clicks in impressive fashion.

There’s a freedom and an energy to St Mirren when they attack, typified by the way in which Fraser Taylor let fly from 25 yards. His shot was spilled awkwardly by Viljami Sinisalo, with the ball rolling back into the danger area before eventually being cleared for a corner.

From the set-piece, the ball dropped to Chris Mochrie on the edge of the box and he hit a thunderous volley which appeared to strike the arm of Liam Scales.

After a check by the VAR, a penalty-kick was awarded and Nikolas Agrafiotis stepped up to thump the ball past Sinisalo to put the home side ahead after 20 minutes.

Celtic almost found an instant reply when a rapid counter-attack climaxed with Duran drilling a low shot towards the bottom corner, but Saints keeper Jacob Chapman got down to make the save.

Duran then thought he had levelled matters on the half-hour when he bundled home from close range following good play from Yang down the left.

But the goal was ruled out by VAR for what looked to be an extremely tight — and controversial — offside call. A reprieve for St Mirren, albeit they continued to take risks and lose possession in silly areas.

The scorer of a dramatic late winner here last season, Celtic skipper Callum McGregor came close to an equaliser five minutes before half-time but he was denied by a terrific save by Chapman.

This was proving to be an awkward affair for Celtic. For all they were creating chances and falling on the wrong side of some tight VAR calls, they also looked incredibly fragile at times.

Conceding 15 shots on goal per match so far this season, it has been a recurring theme for O’Neill’s side over these opening few weeks of the new campaign.

Deputising for Kieran Tierney, Scales looked out of sorts at left-back — and Auston Trusty didn’t look much better in his natural position at centre-back.

Trailing 1-0 as they went in at half-time, this would have to be a rescue mission in Paisley if Celtic were to maintain their position at the top of the league.

O’Neill resisted the urge to make any changes at half-time. Colby Donovan was probably lucky not to be hooked, given that he had picked up an early booking after only seven minutes.

Celtic really ought to have equalised within the first couple of minutes of the restart when Hassan cut in from the right and clipped a lovely ball over to Yang at the far post, only for the chance to be skewed wide.

But there was a renewed sense of energy and purpose to the visitors — and the equaliser duly arrived on 51 minutes.

Benjamin Nygren swung in a corner-kick and Scales, who had been having a difficult night, did superbly well to glance his header across goal and into the far corner beyond Chapman.

For all they may have been back on level terms, Celtic continued to leak chances at the other end. From a corner-kick, Mochrie wasted a terrific opportunity when he blazed a volley over the bar on the hour.

The notion of gifting chances to the opposing team was a habit which St Mirren were guilty of reciprocating all too often — and it was prove their undoing on 68 minutes.

A livewire up front all night, Duran robbed Ryan Carr of possession inside the Celtic half, with bodies pouring forward on the counter-attack to make it four-versus-two.

Duran eventually played in Yang and he slotted it low past Chapman for 2-1. From St Mirren’s point of view, it was a truly awful goal to concede.

St Mirren huffed and puffed in their search for an equaliser. Particularly in the final 15 minutes, they committed plenty of bodies forward and asked questions of Celtic.

It was Luke Thomas who had the best of the chances with only five minute left to play but he couldn’t convert at the back post after a good break down the left side.

Ultimately, O’Neill’s side held on to secure the three points and could have made it more comfortable had a late goal from substitute Shim Mheuka not been ruled out for offside.

Nonetheless, top of the league with five wins from five, they are still the team to beat in the Scottish Premiership.