Celtic's Relentless Title Defence Continues with Baur's First Goal

Mika Baur’s first Celtic goal was hardly a classic, but it kept a relentless title defence rolling and stretched the champions’ winning start to six league games.

On a night when Celtic never hit top gear, a simple tap-in at McDiarmid Park proved enough to edge past a stubborn St Johnstone side who will wonder how they left with nothing.

O’Neill shuffles the pack, Johnstone steps up

With a Europa League tie looming and an Old Firm double – in cup and league – on the horizon, Martin O’Neill gambled on rotation. Five changes. Kasper Hogh back from injury. Sam Johnstone handed the gloves.

That decision paid off early.

St Johnstone, unbeaten at home in the Premiership this season, refused to sit back. Joel Cotterill, on his first start for the hosts, almost wrote his own headline on 19 minutes when he met Alic’s low cross and looked certain to score. Johnstone exploded off his line and thrust up a strong hand to tip over. A huge save, and one that framed the night.

Celtic had their moments before the break. Haissem Hassan saw an early effort beaten away. Callum McGregor’s strike deflected wide off Campbell. From the resulting corner, Steward came through bodies to punch clear. It was all a bit frantic.

At the other end, Celtic looked vulnerable. Diabate’s effort was hooked off the line by Donovan, then moments before the interval the forward headed another chance past the post from a superb Tounekti cross. St Johnstone were not just hanging in; they were threatening to take control.

O’Neill would later admit he “wasn't even sure what to make of the game”. No wonder.

Baur breaks through, controversy follows

The second half began with another scare. McAlear skipped past McGregor and fed Steven, but his shot went straight at Johnstone. A better finish and Celtic would have been chasing.

Instead, the champions punished the wastefulness.

On 52 minutes, Hassan finally found the space he had been searching for all evening, darting down the right and drilling a low ball across the face. Baur arrived at exactly the right time, exactly the right place. One touch, one tap, one first Celtic goal. He couldn’t miss – and he didn’t.

The goal should have settled Celtic. It didn’t.

St Johnstone kept swinging, and Celtic kept leaving the door ajar. The visitors still carried the sharper edge in the final third, though, and thought they had killed the contest on 66 minutes.

Hogh rose at the back post, nodded the ball back into the middle, and Hassan thrashed it high into the net. A ruthless finish, a deserved reward for his persistence – until the assistant’s flag cut the celebrations short.

The ball, the official ruled, had gone out of play before Hogh’s header back across goal. No goal.

Replays were inconclusive. From the stands, it looked tight. From the cameras, it still looked tight.

“There’s no way of telling and you have to go with the on-field decision,” said Sky Sports’ James McFadden. Without definitive proof, the assistant’s call stood. Hassan’s wait for a first Celtic goal goes on.

St Johnstone push, Celtic cling on

The disallowed goal injected fresh belief into St Johnstone. The game became stretched, open, ragged.

Hassan almost made amends when Hogh laid the ball into his path on 71 minutes, his curling effort pushed away by Steward. The Saints goalkeeper then denied James Forrest with a sharp save after the winger twisted and turned on the edge of the box.

At 1-0, the tension never left.

Alic dragged a shot inches wide with 10 minutes to play, a reminder that Celtic’s grip on the points was anything but firm. Nygren then slipped Hogh through, only for Steward to turn his effort behind. Seconds later, Nygren met a Forrest cross and again found only the goalkeeper’s gloves.

St Johnstone kept asking questions. Celtic, for all their attacking talent, could not find the answer that would end the argument.

O’Neill cut a frustrated figure on the touchline, and his assessment was blunt.

“We made goalscoring, which is very difficult, almost impossible,” he said. “We could have scored a number of goals, we didn’t. It was just kind of crazy, really.

“I thought that somebody would just take responsibility, put it in the net and pass, pass, pass. Anyway, we’ve won the game, which I’m delighted with. It was the most important thing.”

He knew how close it came to slipping away.

“I have to remember that Sam Johnstone’s made a really great save in the first half. Otherwise, they would have taken the lead.”

Valakari left to rue missed chances

For Simo Valakari, the story was familiar: a brave performance, big chances, no reward.

“We definitely had our moments,” the St Johnstone manager said. “The question, can we survive these moments? And when we get our own chance, can we take it? And we did not take it today.”

His side had created enough to score, and they knew it.

“We know ourselves we can play. We can hurt teams,” Valakari added. “But then at the same time, you need to take these chances that we created because against this quality team, you don’t get that many.”

St Johnstone’s unbeaten home league run is gone, but not their belief that they can trouble the division’s heavyweights.

Celtic’s streak rolls into Old Firm week

For Celtic, the performance was patchy, but the numbers are ruthless. Six wins from six in the Premiership. Thirteen victories in a row stretching back to last season. A five-point cushion over Rangers at the top.

And now? A Europa League tie, then an Old Firm cup clash, then Rangers again in the league a week on Sunday.

They have yet to look unstoppable. They have yet to be caught.

If this is Celtic while still short of their “convincing best”, what happens when the gears finally click into place?