The situation for the top team is coming to a head
Sensation: Outsiders win the League Cup
12/14/2025 – 11:32 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The roles in the Scottish League Cup final seemed clearly assigned in advance. But this time it wasn’t the favorite who prevailed in the end.
Celtic Glasgow won eight of the last eleven League Cup finals in Scotland. On Sunday evening, the record champions suffered a completely unexpected defeat in this year’s final. Against the clear outsiders FC St. Mirren, Celtic lost 1:3 (1:1) in front of 49,914 spectators at Hampden Park.
Marcus Fraser, who once played for Celtic himself, gave the Paisley team the lead after just two minutes. Reo Hatate equalized for the favorites 21 turns later (23rd minute). In the second half, Jonah Ayunga scored a brace to decide the game in favor of FC St. Mirren (64th, 76th).
It is the first title for coach Stephen Robinson’s team since 2013, when St. Mirren also won the League Cup. This year’s triumph is particularly surprising as the team is currently only ninth out of twelve places in the league. So far, St. Mirren has only managed three wins in 15 games. Now the sensational success in the League Cup – which also happened to be Robinson’s first title as a coach.
Meanwhile, the situation at series champions Celtic is getting worse and worse. The new coach Wilfried Nancy lost all of his first three games on the sidelines. Particularly tricky: All three games were of great importance for the club.
Before the defeat in the League Cup, Celtic had already lost in the Europa League against AS Roma, going down 3-0 in front of their home crowd. After six games, the team only has seven points and is in 24th place in the table. This is just enough to qualify for participation in the playoffs. With two match days to go, progress at international level is still wobbling.
Nancy’s debut as Celtic coach also saw his team lose against Heart of Midlothian. The Edinburgh club won last weekend’s game 2-1 and consolidated their lead in the Scottish Professional Football League. Celtic are currently only second and have recently won the title four times in a row.