{"id":394279,"date":"2026-04-12T05:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/394279\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T05:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:25:13","slug":"celtic-player-ratings-as-alex-oxlade-chamberlain-shines-in-nervy-st-mirren-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/394279\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtic player ratings as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shines in nervy St Mirren win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Add as preferred source on Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Celtic have taken a crucial step in the title race despite a nervy affair against St Mirren.<\/p>\n

In what will no doubt be a taste of things to come in terms of nerves, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain\u2019s<\/a> first-half strike was enough.<\/p>\n

Despite a positive start, things quickly got much less pretty. St Mirren played some impressive football, but ultimately failed to threaten the Hoops\u2019 goal from open play.<\/p>\n

The three points are in the bag, and that\u2019s what matters. Which Hoops players impressed?<\/p>\n

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daizen Maeda headline Celtic ratings vs St MirrenViljami Sinisalo \u2013 5\/10<\/p>\n

Targeted on set pieces by St Mirren, and though few goalkeepers can deal with such a crowded six-yard box, Sinisalo<\/a> looked untidy at times.<\/p>\n

The life of a Celtic goalkeeper is about much more than just shot-stopping, and the Finland international still has steps to make.<\/p>\n

Anthony Ralston \u2013 6\/10<\/p>\n

We are all familiar with Ralston\u2019s strengths and weaknesses at this point, and his rustiness today can be explained given how long he has waited for a start.<\/p>\n

But at times, it felt that the visitors were targeting the right-back.<\/p>\n

Auston Trusty \u2013 6\/10<\/p>\n

The partnership of Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga will ask questions of any defence in Scotland, and Trusty didn\u2019t always have the answers.<\/p>\n

Started positively on the ball, but lowered the pace along with his teammates.<\/p>\n

Liam Scales \u2013 6\/10<\/p>\n

A similar story to his defensive partner. Scales is in a funny moment, currently \u2013 he isn\u2019t the assuring presence he was at points earlier this season.<\/p>\n

\"CelticPhoto by WM Sport Media\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

READ MORE: SFA embarrassed by referee indictment that won\u2019t surprise Celtic fans one bit<\/a><\/p>\n

Nor was he dominant in the air against the aforementioned striker partnership.<\/p>\n

Kieran Tierney \u2013 7\/10<\/p>\n

Tierney<\/a> was always keen to get forward onto the Saints\u2019 defensive line, but wasn\u2019t always picked out by his teammates.<\/p>\n

He earns pass marks for his defensive contribution in difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n

Callum McGregor \u2013 6\/10<\/p>\n

McGregor was noticeably less involved than his teammates, with the Hoops often looking to go direct as early as possible, bypassing the midfield.<\/p>\n

In an extremely rare move, he was substituted in the 72nd minute.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Nygren \u2013 7\/10<\/p>\n

Nygren<\/a> had good intensity in his performance; it was a real surprise to see him substituted so early. He made some nice attacking contributions in the first half.<\/p>\n

Brought on in his place was Arne Engels for a first competitive Celtic appearance in exactly two months.<\/p>\n

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 8\/10<\/p>\n

As well as scoring the crucial opening goal, the Ox also had one disallowed and ran his socks off throughout.<\/p>\n

His best performance in a Celtic jersey so far.<\/p>\n

Thoughts on the 1-0 win? <\/p>\n

Is it really all just about the result?<\/p>\n

\"Alex Hyunjun Yang \u2013 6\/10<\/p>\n

Not quite Yang\u2019s day, despite his attempts. The manager\u2019s decision to leave him on the park for 90 minutes was telling.<\/p>\n

Tomas Cvancara \u2013 5\/10<\/p>\n

It just isn\u2019t happening for Big Tam.<\/p>\n

Despite some positive general play, a goal continued to evade the Czech striker, despite a couple of chances falling his way on the day.<\/p>\n

He was replaced by Iheanacho around the hour mark.<\/p>\n

Daizen Maeda \u2013 8\/10<\/p>\n

Even when he isn\u2019t hitting the attacking heights that he did last season, Maeda\u2019s contributions out of possession still make him a vital cog in this team.<\/p>\n

His intensity in attack was also evident, but his service wasn\u2019t rewarded.<\/p>\n

Celtic substitute ratings vs St MirrenArne Engels \u2013 6\/10Kelechi Iheanacho \u2013 7\/10Reo Hatate \u2013 7\/10Luke McCowan \u2013 7\/10Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Add as preferred source on Google Celtic have taken a crucial step in the title race despite a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2675,101496,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-394279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-celtic","9":"tag-celtic-vs-st-mirren","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}