Celtic's Dominance Under Martin O'Neill Continues with Durán and Nygren

Celtic’s ruthless edge under Martin O’Neill shows no sign of softening – and two of his forwards are driving the charge.

Camilo Durán has exploded into life in Glasgow. Six goals in seven games in all competitions, three of them in his last two Scottish Premiership outings. He is averaging a goal every 97 minutes in a Celtic shirt, the kind of return that turns a promising signing into a guaranteed starter.

Alongside him, Benjamin Nygren is stitching together the attack with a different kind of influence. Five goal involvements in Celtic’s four league matches this season – three goals, two assists – underline how quickly he has become central to O’Neill’s system. He has scored or assisted against 10 of the 11 Premiership sides he has faced. The only team to keep him quiet? St. Mirren, across three games.

That particular detail suddenly matters.

O’Neill’s perfect record and a familiar victim

History leans heavily in Celtic’s favour. Under Martin O’Neill, they have faced St. Mirren seven times in all competitions and won every single one, by an aggregate score of 16-2. It is dominance, not a quirk.

Only three managers in the club’s history boast longer perfect runs against a single opponent: Jock Stein’s 11 wins from 11 against Raith Rovers, Brendan Rodgers’ nine from nine versus Hamilton Academical, and Ange Postecoglou’s eight straight victories over Ross County. O’Neill sits in serious company.

His current league form backs that up. Celtic have strung together 11 straight Premiership wins, four of them to start this season. Since the beginning of last term, they have taken 23 wins from 27 league matches under the Northern Irishman, drawing two and losing two. That works out at 2.63 points per game – title-winning numbers by any measure.

St. Mirren’s rise – and the table-top clash

St. Mirren, though, are not arriving as cannon fodder. They have quietly pieced together a surge of their own: four wins and two draws in their last six league fixtures. That run already eclipses their previous 20 league games, when they managed just three victories, four draws and 13 defeats.

They are not just improving; they are climbing.

That sets up a classic early-season showdown. The side starting the day in second place at home to the league leaders has recently enjoyed the upper hand in the Scottish Premiership. On the last five such occasions, the team in second has won three, drawn one and lost only once – a stronger return than the nine comparable fixtures before that, which produced just two wins, three draws and four defeats for the chasers.

So the pattern is clear. When second hosts first, the underdog bites more often than it used to.

Celtic arrive with a relentless winning machine, a manager with a flawless record against this opponent, and forwards in Durán and Nygren who are shredding defences. St. Mirren bring form, belief, and the knowledge that they are one of the few sides to have kept Nygren off the scoresheet.

Something has to give.