Yang Hyun-jun heads home for CelticSNS

Yang Hyun-jun headed two goals as Celtic won in Paisley

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Celtic are now just three wins away from retaining the Scottish Premiership crown after seeing off St Mirren after what visiting manager Brendan Rodgers described as "one of my favourite results of the season".

No wonder after this seven-goal classic in Paisley extended their lead at the top of the table to 16 points.

If Celtic win their next two league games against second-top Rangers and Heart of Midlothian, they will travel to Perth in the first week of April knowing a win over St Johnstone will wrap up a fourth consecutive title.

Explaining why this win was so special, Rodgers said: "Because we are coming to a team you can see are difficult to play against, the surface is very difficult and it's on the back of a third game of the week.

"We needed the freshness, the energy of the players coming into the game. They made the football smile for us."

Celtic were made to work extremely hard for their victory by a St Mirren side that refused to lie down and twice came back to equalise before a fine late double from from Yang Hyun-jun either side of an excellent goal from Daizen Maeda.

Japan forward Maeda now has 13 goals from his last dozen games, while South Korean winger Yang - whose fine assist set him up - looks a much-improved player, and his two-goal cameo may make it hard for his manager to leave him out of the starting XI.

First-half efforts from Jeffrey Schlupp - his first for the club, cleverly finding the inside of the post from the left of the area - and an Arne Engels penalty had Celtic ahead at the interval.

However, the goal of the half came in between, courtesy of a brilliant, curling free-kick from the left boot of St Mirren wing-back Declan John.

There were also a couple of superb Kasper Schmeichel saves before that, denying first Toyosi Olusanya, when the striker was played in behind the Celtic defence, then Mark O'Hara after the Buddies captain shot on the turn from inside the area.

After the break, right-back Ryan Alebiousu made up for the sloppy concession of Celtic's penalty by playing a key role in the Buddies' second equaliser, slammed into the turf and over the despairing Schmeichel by Killian Phillips.

Celtic's superior squad depth proved too much for St Mirren, however, with Yang, Jota and Luke McCowan all coming on to make important contributions, with McCowan cracking a fine shot off a post with 10 minutes to go in addition to the champions' late goal blitz.

Mixed emotions for Buddies

Home boss Stephen Robinson will no doubt have mixed emotions.

He will be feeling the bitter sting of defeat with disappointment but also knows his side contributed fully to a fabulous game of football.

They gave Celtic a real run for their money, drew several top-class saves from Denmark goalkeeper Schmeichel and will no doubt rue the concession of a needless penalty just before half-time that made their job even more tricky.

Robinson also bemoaned being denied what he thought was a clear a penalty when Alistair Johnston challenged Roland Idowu 60 seconds before Maeda made it 4-2.

The energy, pressing and organisation of this St Mirren side caused Celtic a fair few problems and, if they can keep up the intensity in the run-up to the Premiership split, they will still fancy their chances of making the top six for a third consecutive season.

Quality off bench makes difference

This was yet another good day at the office for the runaway league leaders, who nearly always find a way to get the job done.

In this case, with some style, as they just got better the longer the match went on.

It is not that often captain Callum McGregor will be taken off. Not a problem for his manager when Rodgers can replace him with the energy and skill of McCowan.

Jota and Yang also added significant quality when they came on and made things even more difficult for a tiring St Mirren side who had put so much into the first hour of the match.

Schlupp will be delighted to have scored his first Celtic goal, while Engels' impressive debut season in Scotland has now yielded 10 goals.

The champions-elect now have a full week to prepare for the visit of Hibernian in the Scottish Cup before welcoming Barry Ferguson's Rangers to Celtic Park on 16 March.

What they said

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "It's not a good claim, it's a penalty. I don't blame the ref [Matthew MacDermid] as it happens quickly.

"You need luck against top teams, but it wasn't luck - it was just we didn't get the decision we should have got. It's 3-2 and everything to play for. I thought we were on top of the game at that stage as well."

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "It has just been time with Yang. His girlfriend is here at the moment. I said to the guys, let's see if we can keep her here and get that visa sorted. Everyone knows he's in a really good mood and has been for a while.

"He scored his two goals and the one that was disallowed, but his pass for Daizen's goal, to see it and then to execute it, wow, what a pass. He's such a great kid. He works so hard every single day. He doesn't moan, he doesn't groan. He's a tough boy, he's physical.

"It hasn't always come off for him because he's adapting to the intensity and the pressure. But now you're starting to see a young guy evolve as a football player and as a person, and I'm so, so happy for him."

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