Celtic turn on style to come from behind and beat ten-man St Mirren amid first half VAR drama

Celtic turned on the style in the second half against ten-man St Mirren to make it 25 domestic games unbeaten despite going a goal down in Paisley.

The home side took the lead amid first half VAR drama when they were awarded a penalty before the Hoops had one rescinded at the end of the first 45.

But they were blown away in the second as goals from Jota, Alistair Johnston, Liel Abada, Matt O’Riley and Hyeongyu Oh secured a 5-1 victory.

Celtic, who now have 250 goals in 99 games under Ange Postecoglou, had won 23 and drew one of their 24 games following their 2-0 defeat at the same ground back in September.

And they continued their relentless charge towards the title with another convincing win that restored their nine-point lead at the top.

The home side took an early lead through Marc O’Hara after they were awarded a penalty kick in the first half.

Greg Taylor’s handball originally went unnoticed but the referee was called over the VAR screen during the next break in play and the spot kick was awarded.

O’Hara took full advantage of the opportunity and smashed the ball past Joe Hart to make it 1-0.

Celtic huffed and puffed but were unable to find their usual flowing form as they struggled to create any real chances.

St Mirren were reduced to ten-men at the end of the half amid further VAR drama when the Hoops were originally awarded a penalty for the foul on Kyogo, but the spot-kick was rescinded after a check.

The red-card shown to Charles Dunne for the last manage challenge stood and the home side were left facing the second half of the game with a man down.

Abada was brought on in the place of Daizen Maeda at half-time as Postecoglou looked to avoid a second defeat in Paisley this season.

The visitors came out flying in the second half and they didn’t have to wait long for an equaliser when Jota slotted home from close range, leaving ten man St Mirren with an uphill struggle to hold on to the draw.

And they were ahead five minutes later when Johnston turned it home for his first goal since signing in January before Abada secured the win when he grabbed the third with 20 minutes to go.

The flood gates where then well and truly open and Matt O’Riley made it four a minute later.

And they were awarded a penalty with ten minutes left on the clock following yet another VAR check and Hyeongyu Oh stepped up to score his second Celtic goal since arriving from South Korea at the end of January.