16-in-a-row for James Forrest on Trophy Day at Paradise | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSaturday, May 17, 2025Celtic Park

CELTIC…1(Forrest 90 +4)ST MIRREN…1(Ayunga 51)

The champions of Scotland saw out the league season with a 1-1 draw against St Mirren as James Forrest extended his incredible scoring run to 16 consecutive seasons with an outstanding last-gasp equaliser.

From the first whistle, the champions were in full control of the game and with just over five minutes gone, the first chances of the match arrived.

Callum McGregor showed his creativity and class to skip past two St Mirren defenders and feed the ball to Arne Engels, who flashed a ball across the face of goal.

St Mirren’s keeper, Zach Hemming, was able to pounce on the crossed ball, but he fumbled it which allowed Daizen Maeda to take a swipe at the ball, but he was unable to direct it goalwards and the chance was gone.

Celtic continued to dominate possession throughout the half, with St Mirren spending most of the first 45 minutes on the back foot.

The visitors’ first attempt on goal came in the 25th minute when Mikael Mandron got a shot on target from inside the box, but Kasper Schmeichel was able to hold on to the ball with ease before getting the Celts on the front foot again quickly.

The same can’t be said for Schmeichel’s counterpart in the St Mirren goals, with Zach Hemming looking to slow the game down throughout the first half and ensuring that every goal kick took as long as possible.

Just after the half-hour mark, Callum McGregor found himself with a shooting opportunity from outside the area, and given his goalscoring exploits this season, it would have been no surprise to see his effort nestle in the back of the net, but on this occasion it drifted over the bar.

The champions continued their hunt for the opening goal as the half wore on, but with no big chances presenting themselves, the teams went in level at the break.

Five minutes in to the second half, St Mirren took the lead as Declan John sent the ball in to the box from a free-kick. Liam Scales’ clearance only went as far as Jonah Ayunga who slotted the ball in to the bottom corner to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Brendan Rodgers made a triple substitution a few minutes later, with James Forrest, Luke McCowan and Yang brought on in place of Nicolas Kühn, Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah.

James Forrest’s impact was instantaneous as he caused all manner of problems for the visitors’ defence and, with 61 minutes played, it looked like he had set up the equaliser, but Daizen’s header from his crossed ball went over the bar.

The champions continued to hunt for the equaliser and had St Mirren camped in their own final third for most of the second half, but still the goal wouldn’t come.

Forrest continued to put pressure on the St Mirren defence, with he and Yang switching wings frequently in an attempt to catch the visitors’ defence flat-footed.

With five minutes to go, Johnny Kenny, who was brought on in the 70th minute in place of Daizen Maeda, was unfortunate not to find the back of the net. The Irishman showed great pace as he burst in to the box with the ball before seeing two efforts saved in quick succession.

It looked like the league season was going to end with a home defeat for Celtic, but there was a feeling inside Paradise that the story wasn’t finished just yet.

Billy McNeill famously said that there is a fairytale about Celtic Football Club, and in the final minute of stoppage time, that fairytale struck again.

Much has been made about James Forrest requiring a goal this season to take his consecutive scoring run to 16 successive campaigns and, with 94 minutes on the clock, his opportunity arrived.

Alistair Johnston looked like he had a great opportunity to shoot, however, the Canadian spotted Forrest on the right wing and opted to slide the ball through to the winger.

And Celtic’s most decorated player ever made no mistake as he fired his shot in to the back of the net to equal Paul McStay and Jimmy McGrory’s records of scoring in 16 consecutive campaigns.

The scenes inside Celtic Park as the ball hit the back of the net were joyous, and those joyous scenes continued after the match, as the four-in-a-row champions of Scotland lifted the league trophy in front of the Celtic faithful, rounding off an exceptional league campaign for the Celts.