Ten men Celts seal last minute win over St Mirren
Eoghan O’Connell was red carded before breaking sweat for a pull on a St Mirren defender but the hoops pulled out all the stops to claim three points and maintain their lead of goal difference over Sevco at the top of the table.
St Mirren took the lead in the 36th minute through a deflected Jack Baird shot but Patrik Twardzik and Holmbert Fridjonsson put Celtic in front at the interval.
Substitute Mark Barrowman levelled for St Mirren in the 72nd minute but rather than settle for a point John Herron popped up in the 89th minute to slide home a dramatic winner.
The game got off to the worst possible start for the hoops when O’Connell was red carded after just four minutes. The decision fell into the ‘seen them given’ category when the defender pulled the arm of a St Mirren striker 30 yards from goal.
Connor McManus slipped into defence alongside Marcus Fraser with Celtic redoubling their efforts to close down St Mirren at every opportunity despite their one man disadvantage.
There was some concern on the St Mirren bench at the way the game was developing but in the 36th minute the Paisley side took the lead when a Gary Teale corner found John Baird whose low shot was deflected into the net.
Rather than feel sorry for themselves Celtic equalised within 60 seconds of the Saints goal when Patrik Twardzik raced onto a long pass from Darnell Fisher and slammed a low shot past Chris Dilo into the net.
Not content with getting back on level terms Celtic took the lead a minute before the break when Fridjonsson showed great composure to side step one defender then shoot low past Dilo into the net.
The second half started in similar fashion with Celtic chasing down every ball with St Mirren unable to cope with the expectations that come with having an extra player on the park.
As the second period developed Celtic began to drop deeper with former Celtic Academy kid Mark Barrowman powerfully heading home a corner in the 72nd minute to level the scores.
Celtic weathered a burst of pressure to finish the match strongly with only a late late flag from the linesman denying Patrik Twardzik an 83th minute winner.
Two minutes later Filip Twardzik and Fisher created an opening for Jamie Lindsay but Dilo was well placed to save the midfielders shot from the edge of the penalty box.
In the final minute Herron grabbed a dramatic winner when he slid a low shot part Dilo from a tight angle to give Celtic three well worked for points.
CELTIC: Fasan, Fisher, O’Connell, Fraser, Waters; Lindsay, McManus, F. Twardzik; Herron, Fridjonsson, P. Twardzik
SUBS: Hart, Breslin, Donnelly, Johnstone, Thomson, Tierney, McMullan