Mika Baur Scores First Goal in Celtic's Hard-Fought Victory

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

At a noisy McDiarmid Park, Celtic were far from slick. They were, however, ruthless enough in the one moment that really mattered.

Baur breaks through on grinding afternoon

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

The alterations did not bring early control. If anything, they unsettled Celtic.

St Johnstone, unbeaten at home this season, went at the champions with purpose. Joel Cotterill, making his first start, almost ripped the game open on 19 minutes, meeting Alic’s low cross with a crisp strike. Johnstone, though, flung up a strong hand and tipped over – a save that would frame the rest of the afternoon.

Before that, Haissem Hassan had already tested the hosts’ goalkeeper with a firm effort turned wide on five minutes, but Celtic’s play never quite clicked. Callum McGregor saw a shot deflected past by Campbell, Steward punching the resulting corner clear. At the other end, Diabate had an effort hooked off the line by Donovan, then headed another chance past the post from a superb Tounekti cross.

Celtic were being dragged into a fight rather than dictating a procession.

Seconds after the restart, McAlear burst past McGregor and teed up Steven, only for the shot to go straight at Johnstone. It felt like a warning. It also jolted Celtic.

The pressure finally told on 52 minutes. Hassan, lively all afternoon, drove in a low cross and Baur arrived in the right place at the right time, sliding in to tap home his first goal for the club. It was simple. It was scruffy. It was exactly what O’Neill’s side needed.

Controversy, missed chances and a narrow escape

Celtic should have killed it. Instead, they left the door ajar.

On 66 minutes, Hogh headed the ball back across goal and Hassan lashed in what looked like his first Celtic goal, only for the assistant’s flag to cut the celebrations short. The ball, the official ruled, had gone out of play before Hogh’s header.

Replays were inconclusive. The debate was not.

“There’s no way of telling and you have to go with the on-field decision,” said Sky Sports’ James McFadden. He pointed out the lack of “definitive proof” to overturn the assistant, who was in line with the cross. Opinions flew, but the law was clear: no certainty, no overturn. The goal stayed chalked off.

Celtic kept pushing. Hogh laid one off for Hassan, whose curling effort was turned past by Steward. James Forrest twisted and turned on the edge of the box, only to see another fine strike beaten away. Nygren then set up Hogh, with Steward again equal to it, before Nygren’s own header from a Forrest cross dropped tamely into the goalkeeper’s arms.

St Johnstone refused to fold. Alic dragged a shot inches wide with 10 minutes to play, a reminder that the champions were walking a tightrope. One clean strike and the unbeaten home record might have stayed intact.

O’Neill knew it. His post-match verdict cut through the performance.

“I’m not even sure what to make of the game,” he told Sky Sports. “I think we made goalscoring, which is very difficult, almost impossible. We could have scored a number of goals, we didn’t do. 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.

“We could have scored a number of goals. I thought St Johnstone were never out of the game. Even if we got the second goal, I never felt St Johnstone were out of it. I have to remember that Sam Johnstone’s made a really great save in the first half. Otherwise, they would have taken the lead.”

His opposite number, Simo Valakari, was left wrestling with the familiar frustration of a good performance without reward.

“We definitely had our moments,” he 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.

“We know ourselves we can play. We can hurt teams. 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. But we created enough to score a goal and that’s the kind of disappointment of this evening.”

Winning ugly, stretching clear

Celtic’s display will not live long in the memory, but the numbers will. This was their 13th straight win in all competitions, a run stretching back into the closing weeks of last season. Six from six in the league. Five points clear of Rangers, who sit second and await them in their next Premiership outing a week on Sunday.

St Johnstone’s proud unbeaten home start is gone, but their performance will encourage Valakari. They traded blows with the champions and had them anxious right to the final whistle.

Celtic, though, walk away with exactly what they came for: another three points, another clean sheet, and another reminder that even on an off day, they still find a way. With Europe and the Old Firm on the horizon, the question now is whether grinding wins like this are a warning sign – or the hallmark of a side that knows exactly how to retain a title.