McGregor’s magnificent goal papered over some large cracks against St Mirren.
Celtic have failed to score in six matches this season, have scored fewer in the league than both Hearts and Hibernian, and were blunt again against St Mirren.
It took until second-half injury time for O’Neill’s side to have an effort on target – a tame header from substitute Yang Hyun-Jun. It took a moment of magic from McGregor to turn one point into three.
For large stages of the match, it looked as though it might have been zero.
Conor McMenamin twice went close in the first half, Miguel Freckleton spooned an excellent chance over the bar, and Liam Scales put through his own goal, only to be spared his blushes by an offside flag against McMenamin.
It was put to the former Leicester City, Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland boss that off-field dramas might have affected the Celtic players on the pitch.
“When it was a continuation of not really supporting the team tonight, and it was just ‘sack the board’ the whole way through, there’s an element that it might [affect the team],” O’Neill said.
“I don’t think it helps, but the one thing we don’t lack is unity within the dressing room.”
With Northern Ireland two games away from qualification for the 2026 World Cup, manager Michael O’Neill has told his players not to “waste this opportunity”.
It’s certainly not a straightforward path to North America as O’Neill’s side travel to Italy for their play-off semi-final on 26 March and, should they stun the Azzurri, they will then travel to either Wales of Bosnia-Herzegovina five days later for a winner-takes-all final.
Italy have not qualified for a World Cup since the 2014 edition in Brazil, with Northern Ireland absent from the big dance since 1986 when it was last held in Mexico – one of the three host nations next year alongside Canada and the USA.
Although O’Neill’s side has a young age profile, the Northern Ireland manager has no fears his side can rise to the challenge in the play-off and, despite defeats away by Germany and Slovakia in the group phase, feels his side showed enough on the road to suggest they can spring the surprise.
“It’s difficult to win away in international football and that is something this team still has to develop, but I take a lot of encouragement from the performances in Cologne and Slovakia where we were challenged and were missing key players in those games,” he said.
“We still gave a really good account of ourselves and were in the game in Germany for 70, 75 minutes. We were in the game in Slovakia right to the end and felt a little big aggrieved by the nature of that result.
“We have to make the game as difficult as possible for Italy and it will be difficult for them with the expectation they carry into the game.
“If we can add to that with how we play the game and the level of our performance, then who knows. We have an opportunity to go to a World Cup and we have to do everything possible to try to take it. What I will say to them [players] is ‘don’t waste the opportunity.'”
In a side that was already missing key players such as the Charles brothers, Shea and Pierce, and the suspended Daniel Ballard, youth got the opportunity to shine in the final qualifier, which was a dead rubber after Friday’s defeat by Slovakia.
Given they were at risk of suspension, Trai Hume and Justin Devenny were given the evening off, and the talismanic Conor Bradley was withdrawn at half-time.
Jamie Donley will get the headlines after his first international goal, but there was a strong first start for Jamie McDonnell, while Ruairi McConville was again commanding in defence and teenager Patrick Kelly made his senior debut.
“We obviously had to make a lot of changes to the team. If you look at the players we used tonight, five of the players are under 21, so I think that’s really positive for us,” O’Neill said.
“Luxembourg are a good team. The results in this campaign are probably a little bit harsh on them, and their performances have been good.
“They’ve not been beaten easily in any of the games, so we take a lot from the fact that we beat them 3–1 away and 1–0 at home. A clean sheet was a positive, and a lot of good performances as well.”
The loss in the penultimate fixture in the campaign does still damage their hopes of making it to North America, however, as they will enter those play-offs in the lowest group of seeds.
Slovakia originally thought they had taken the lead in the 56th minute when Lukas Haraslin’s free-kick flew past Bailey Peacock-Farrell, but it was adjudged that Milan Skriniar had obstructed the view of the Northern Ireland goalkeeper.
Just eight minutes later, they had another strike disallowed by VAR after David Strelec was penalised for handling the ball when finishing from another Haraslin set-piece.
O’Neill felt that the decisions to rule out the previous efforts played into allowing the late winner.
“It was a clear push on Daniel Ballard at the corner, two hands in his back,” said O’Neill.
“The other goals that were disallowed should have been disallowed. The first one was offside, the lines show that clearly, and the second one was handball.
“You have to look at each incident on its own merit, you can’t go cumulative and referee the last incident differently to how you refereed the other two incidents.”
Following the winning goal, Ballard was sent off for a second yellow card offence and midfielder George Saville was booked with both players now ruled out of Monday night’s game with Luxembourg through suspension.
On Ballard’s second yellow, O’Neill said: “The Slovakian dug-out that caused that as much as anything.”
“The [second] yellow card for Daniel is a joke,” he continued.
“If you look at it back, it is poor. He is a top referee, he has refereed the Champions League final, he should have disallowed the goal.”
The victory, which keeps alive Slovakia’s hopes of qualifying automatically for next summer’s tournament, sparked huge celebrations from the hosts with O’Neill describing their reaction as “disappointing”.
“Everything was on the line for Slovakia. You could tell that by the way their technical area behaved towards the end of the game, which was disappointing.
“Disappointing for their coach not to shake my hand.
“Ultimately, we congratulate Slovakia because they can go to Germany and try to win the group.”
The overriding questions remains, though. How long will O’Neill have to improve Celtic?
His return, alongside assistant Shaun Maloney, has brought back a feelgood factor but that was only going to last so long.
The laughs had over O’Neill’s matchday fit have faded, while Celtic’s deep-rooted problems have returned in stark fashion.
Captain Callum McGregor was at the heart of the happiness on Sunday, scoring in the extra-time win, but he was quick to assure no-one had got carried away.
“Nothing’s been solved after a really good game at the weekend,” the midfielder said after defeat in Denmark. “We know that we don’t get too up or too down.
“We come away here against a really good side, a good club, who do a lot of good things and they know what they are.
“There’s a lot of growth still left in our team as well. We know where we are and we know where we want to get to.”
It appears Celtic are far from the latter, and it’s lined up to be an almighty task to get them there, for whoever is charged with taking them there.
On a sobering night, it’s not the interim manager who will take the heat. It’s not even the players being taught by him.
It’s the board who have managed to quieten the clamour aimed in their direction for a few days with the reinstatement of O’Neill who will be feeling the pressure once more.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and a slew of other national and California Democrats on Saturday rallied supporters to stay fired up in seeking passage of a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the midterm elections.
While polling suggests Proposition 50 is likely to pass Tuesday, volunteers must continue knocking on doors, phone banking and motivating voters through Election Day, they said. Newsom told volunteers they ought to follow the model of sprinters, leaving it all on the field.
“We cannot afford to run the 90-yard dash. You Angelenos, you’ve got the Olympics coming in 2028. They do not run the 90-yard dash. They run the 110-yard dash. We have got to be at peak on Election Day,” Newsom told hundreds of supporters at the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. “We cannot take anything for granted.”
Hours earlier, Republican spoke out against the ballot measure at John Wayne Park in Newport Beach, before sending teams into neighborhoods to drum up votes for their side.
“What Proposition 50 will do is disenfranchise, meaning, disregard all Republicans in the state of California,” said state Assembly member Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach). “Ninety percent of 6 million [Californian Republicans] will be disenfranchised.”
Proposition 50 would redraw California’s congressional districts in an attempt to boost the number of Democrats in Congress. The effort was proposed by Newsom and other California Democrats in hope of blunting President Trump’s push in Texas and other GOP-led states to increase the number of Republicans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm election. But even if voters approve the ballot measure that could flip five California districts currently represented by Republicans, it’s unclear whether that will be enough to shift control of the House unless there is a blue wave in the 2026 election.
The party that wins control of the House will shape Trump’s final two years in the White House — whether he is able to continue enacting his agenda or faces a spate of investigations and possibly another impeachment attempt.
The special election is among the costliest ballot measures in state history. More than $192 million has flowed into various campaign committees since state lawmakers voted in August to put the proposition on the ballot. Supporters of the redistricting effort have raised exponentially more money than opponents, and polling shows the proposition is likely to pass.
As of Friday, more than a quarter of the state’s 23 million registered voters had cast ballots, with Democrats outpacing Republicans.
Newsom was joined Saturday by Harris, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, other Democrats and labor leaders.
Harris, in a surprise appearance at the gathering, argued that the Trump administration is implementing long-sought GOP goals such as voter suppression.
“This fight is not about sitting by and complaining, ‘Oh, they’re cheating,’” the former vice president said. “It’s about recognizing what they are up to. There is an agenda that we are witnessing which feels chaotic, I know, but in fact, we are witnessing a high velocity event that is about the swift implementation of a plan that has been decades in the making.”
Several of the speakers referred to the immigration raids that started in Los Angeles in June and deep cuts to federal safety nets, including the nutrition assistance program for low-income families and a health coverage for seniors and the disabled.
“We know there’s so much on the line this Tuesday. And a reminder, Tuesday is not Election Day — it’s the last day to vote,” Padilla said. “Don’t wait till Tuesday. Get your ballots in folks…. As good as the polls look, we need to run up the score on this because the eyes of the country are going to be on California on Tuesday. And we need to win and we need to win big.”
Padilla, a typically staid legislator, then offered a modified riff of a lyric by rapper Ice Cube, who grew up in South Los Angeles.
“Donald Trump — you better check yourself before you wreck America,” said Padilla, who is considering running for governor next year.
Nearly 50 miles southeast, about 50 Republican canvassers fueled up on coffee and donuts, united over the brisk weather and annoyance about Newsom’s attempt to redraw California’s congressional districts.
Will O’Neill, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, equated this final push against Proposition 50 as the California GOP’s game 7 — a nod to tonight’s World Series battle between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Orange County right now is the only county in Southern California that has a shot of having more Republicans than Democrats voting,” said O’Neill. “We expect that over the next three days, around 70% of everyone who votes is gonna vote ‘no’ on 50. But we need them to vote.”
Ariana Assenmacher, of California Young Republicans, center, organizes during a gathering of Republican Party members pressing to vote no on Proposition 50 in the upcoming California Statewide Special Election at John Wayne Park in Newport Beach on Saturday, November 1, 2025.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
O’Neill labeled the measure a “hyper-partisan power grab.” If Proposition 50 passes, it will dilute Republican power in Orange County by splitting communities and roping some residents into districts represented by Los Angeles County politicians.
Dixon also rallied volunteers — which included a handful of college students from across the state: “Be polite. Just say thank you very much. Just like Charlie Kirk would. Don’t [stimulate] an argument. Just be friendly.”
“They’re squeezing out what very little representation Republicans have in the state,” said Kristen Nicole Valle, president of the Orange County Young Republicans.
“We will not be hearing from 40% of Californians if Prop. 50 passes.”
Randall Avila, executive director of the Orange County GOP, said the measure disenfranchises Latino GOP voters like himself.
Nationally, Trump managed to gain 48% of the Latino vote, a Pew Research study showed, which proved crucial to his second presidential victory.
“Obviously our community has kind of shown we’re willing to switch parties and go another direction if that elected official or that party isn’t serving us,” said Avila. “So it’s unfortunate that some of those voices are now gonna be silenced with a predetermined winner in their district.”
Not all hope is lost for Republicans if Proposition 50 is approved, Avila said. A handful of seats could be snagged by Republicans, including the districts held by Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Derek Tran (D-Orange).
“If the lines do change, that doesn’t mean we pack up and go home,” he said. “Just means we reorganize, we reconfigure things, and then we keep fighting.”
