Having booked their place in next month's Scottish Cup Final, can Celtic now carry that momentum into their Premiership title push, after doing something in front of goal for the first time in months? At the weekend, the Hoops ousted St Mirren by the pretty unique scoreline of 6-2 after extra time. The Hoops scored four times during a six minute spree in the first half of extra time; Kelechi Ịheanachọ netting twice, while Luke McCowan and Benjamin Nygren also beat teenaged debutant Grant Tamosevicius.
Long before this, Martin O'Neill's team had raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half, with Daizen Maeda breaking the deadlock inside 60 seconds, before Anthony Ralston lashed home a second. The Saints fought back, equalising in injury time through Mikael Mandron, meaning the Celts were forced to win the tie all over again, as they eventually did.
Nevertheless, as pointed out by John McGinley of the Celtic Way, this is the first time since January's win over Utrecht that the serial champions have scored more than once in a first half. This is quite unbelievable, considering they've played 14 matches during the intervening period. So, how many times has this happened throughout the season? Spoiler alert, not very often.
Matches Celtic have scored 2+ first half goals 2025/26
- 21 September. Partick Thistle 0-4 Celtic. League Cup. HT score: 0-2.
- 29 October. Celtic 4-0 Falkirk. Scottish Premiership. HT score: 2-0.
- 27 November. Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic. Europa League. HT score: 1-2.
- 30 November. Hibernian 1-2 Celtic. Scottish Premiership. HT score: 0-2.
- 27 December. Livingston 2-4 Celtic. Scottish Premiership. HT score: 2-4.
- 10 January. Celtic 4-0 Dundee United. Scottish Premiership. HT score: 2-0.
- 22 January. Bologna 2-2 Celtic. Europa League. HT score: 0-2.
- 29 January. Celtic 4-2 Utrecht. Europa League. HT score: 3-1.
- 19 April. Celtic 6-2 St Mirren (AET). Scottish Cup semi-final. HT score: 2-0.
Sunday was just the ninth time in 53 fixtures this season that Celtic have scored multiple goals during a first half. It has felt as though pretty much every game has been on a knife-edge throughout this campaign, and these statistics underline why. So, how does this compare to previous campaigns?
Times Celtic have scored 2+ first half goals by season (2021-present)
Season | Premiership | All competitions |
|---|---|---|
2025/26 | 4 | 9 |
2024/25 | 18 | 24 |
2023/24 | 13 | 16 |
2022/23 | 14 | 17 |
2021/22 | 17 | 23 |
The number do not lie. Celtic have experienced a major decline when it comes to scoring multiple first half goals. Across the previous four campaigns, they have done so 62 times in the Premiership, an average of 15.5 occasions per season, a number that has drastically dropped to just four this time round with five games remaining. The club's high-point in recent times for this metric came just last season, netting twice or more in 24 of 57 fixtures, around 42%, while this is only 17% this time round.
So, should supporters be concerned about this? Well, currently third in the Premiership table, if the Hoops are to collect a fifth straight title, every match is must win. With the post-split fixtures commencing this weekend, every match will be tough and key in equal measure, most notably welcoming both Hearts and Rangers to Parkhead in May. If O'Neill's team are going to leapfrog both in the table, they'll require more firepower, especially in the first half of matches.
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