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Republic of Ireland international Shane Duffy scored twice in as many games for Celtic as the Bhoys beat St Mirren 2-1 to move to second place in the Premiership.
The towering central midfielder headed his second goal for the Hoops in four days in the 21st minute to level things out after Saints forward Lee Erwin shocked the hosts in the third minute at Paisley.
FULL MATCH DETAILS
James Forrest nodded his head in the 36th minute to finally give victory to the dominant champions.
St Mirren’s emergency goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal saved an Odsonne Edouard penalty in the 75th minute and despite no more goals it was a more comfortable victory than the scoreboard suggested.
Neil Lennon’s team is three points behind the Rangers with one game in hand and can draw in their home game against Livingston on Saturday, and the Light Blues won’t play until Sunday.
The match took place against the background of ongoing Covid-19 issues that had plagued the Paisley club.
The locals once again had Zlamal in goal, as first-choice goalkeepers Jak Alnwick and Dean Lyness were left out after registering positive tests for coronavirus.
Third-choice goalkeeper Peter Urminsky, who was left out of a 3-0 loss to Hibernian at the weekend as a precaution, started on the bench.
Joe Shaughnessy, Dylan Connolly and Junior Morais returned to the team along with Erwin.
Lennon also made four changes when he brought in Hatem Elhamed, Greg Taylor, Ryan Christie and Patryk Klimala, the latter in his first start this season to join Edouard.
It was the home team that struck first when Jamie McGrath’s corner from the right was thrown by Shaughnessy and Erwin threw the ball over the line from one yard.
Celtic’s inevitable response saw the Saints pinned down and in the 19th minute Edouard headed wide from a Forrest cross.
However, moments later, Brighton loaned defender Duffy was more accurate with Christie’s free kick from the right when he headed Zlamal in, undoing all the Saints’ good work.
Celtic’s pressure was relentless. Zlamal made good saves from Callum McGregor and Edouard, but didn’t get a chance with Forrest’s well-placed header, with Christie again serving as supplier.
St Mirren had to come out of his shell and there was a handball penalty claim against Duffy in a packed Celtic penalty area rejected by referee John Beaton.
The Hoops carried their threat into the second half.
McGregor came close with a low shot from 16 yards, Zlamal pushed Edouard’s free throw from 20 yards past the post and then saved a long-distance effort from Christie.
Celtic kept the ball spinning as St Mirren retreated to the edge of their box in compact form, but a McGrath foul on Christie had Beaton quickly aiming for the point, but Zlamal dived low to block Edouard’s penalty.
Still, Celtic dominated possession, but the Buddies goalkeeper proved himself again with another good 20-yard save from Christie in overtime.
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