MARTIN O’NEILL hailed Celtic’s Captain Marvel Callum McGregor after the midfielder’s breathtaking winner against St Mirren in Paisley last night.
The champions’ onfield leader was the man who made the difference with the game heading for a scoreless stalemate and two points carelessly dropped in the dress rehearsal for the Premier Sports League Cup Final at Hampden in three weeks’ time.
McGregor latched onto a pass inside from Colby Donovan, slipped a Saints defender to set up a shooting opportunity from 25 yards and, with practically the last kick of the ball in a hard-fought encounter, thrashed an unstoppable drive high into keeper Shamal George’s top left-hand corner of the net.
KNEESY DOES IT…Callum McGregor celebrates his wonder winner against St Mirren in Paisley.
It was a goal worthy of winning any match and it closed the gap on Premiership pacesetters Hearts to four points with the Edinburgh team due to play Aberdeen at Pittodrie this afternoon.
Applauding the wonder strike from McGregor, interim boss O’Neill enthused: “It’s a fantastic goal and it probably didn’t belong in this game, but, even so, it was a brilliant goal from a really brilliant player.
“I thought we could do much, much better in the game and I didn’t think we created a great deal in the course of the match.
“We got better in the second-half, but St Mirren wouldn’t give us an inch and it was a tough game. But we’ve won a match that was heading for a draw.”
O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “I thought we were pedestrian in the first-half and didn’t really create things.
“Then we kept losing possession so cheaply at times, so all those things you can definitely improve on.
“The win certainly keeps the momentum going and this is the most important thing.
“And, despite the fact that we were inconsistent with our passing and our movement, I thought that was brilliant just to go and get the three points on the board away from home, where we had lost the last two matches away in the league.
“It keeps it going and naturally I’m delighted.”
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