Former Liverpool youth player Shamal George shone in St Mirren’s victory over Celtic to win the Scottish League Cup. The Birkenhead-born goalkeeper made several key saves at Hampden Park, helping the underdogs to a 3-1 victory and adding to Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy’s problems.
Nancy, who joined Celtic after a successful spell with the Columbus Crew of la Major League Soccer has suffered defeats in his first three games in charge. A league defeat against Hearts dealt a blow to their title aspirations, while a 3-0 defeat at home to Roma left Celtic on the brink of elimination from the europa league .
The cup final defeat could be the most devastating to date. Reo Hatate equalized for Celtic before the break following Marcus Fraser’s early goal, but Jonah Ayunga scored twice in the second half to seal St Mirren’s victory.
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This makes Nancy the first Celtic manager in history to lose his first three games. However, it was an unforgettable day for George and his St Mirren teammates.
George was part of the Liverpool squad during the 2019/20 season, when they won the league title under Jürgen Klopp. While some of his former teammates have made their debuts in Liverpool’s first team or gone to the Premier League, he has mainly divided his time between the Scottish Premier League and the youth ranks of English football.
George was part of Liverpool’s title-winning team in 2019-20 under Jürgen Klopp.© Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
He moved to St Mirren on loan from Wycombe during the summer and has made the most of his opportunity. On Sunday, he made a crucial save on Kelechi Iheanacho at 1-0 and another vital save on Colby Donovan at 3-1 that avoided a tense finish.
Wilfried Nancy during the match between St Mirren and Celtic© PA
Nancy not only suffered a defeat, but also another injury setback. Iheanacho had returned against Roma on Thursday following a hamstring injury, but only played 35 minutes on Sunday before suffering another injury.
Ayunga, St Mirren’s hero with two goals, highlighted after the game how important the victory was for him and his teammates. «Having the opportunity to play this, and even more so win it and score, I couldn’t imagine it better. “What a good day, right?” the Kenyan international told BBC Sport Scotland.
This is once in a lifetime. I’ve been playing since I was 17, I’m almost 30, and this was the first time I had the opportunity to win something. The coach deserves it. You see what he has done year after year at St Mirren. This is the icing on the cake.
