St Mirren put up a brave fight against Celtic but ended up on the receiving end of a bruising 5-1 Scottish Cup defeat after Richard Taylor picked up a costly red card at a key moment.

The Buddies suffered an early setback when Daizen Maeda slotted home Aaron Mooy's cross to put the favourites in front. But the visitors rallied well and matched the hosts for the rest of the first half, with Tony Watt and Alex Gogic both spurning chances to equalise.St Mirren battled hard deep into the second half but suffered a double blow when Taylor was deemed to have stopped Liel Abada's shot with his arm.

After a lengthy VAR review the centre back was sent for an early bath, with Hatate stepping up to slot home from the spot. Oh Hyeon-gyu , Matt O'Riley and Hatate added gloss to the scoreline late on for the hosts, with Mark O'Hara's cool penalty only a consolation on another sore night in Glasgow for the Saints.The Buddies were without key defender Charles Dunne, who missed out entirely with a hamstring issue.

Taylor was drafted in for just his fourth appearance for the club, with the 22-year-old playing alongside Declan Gallagher who was passed fit to start.New Zealand international Alex Greive kept his place up front alongside Curtis Main, with Tony Watt and Kieran Offord the Saints' attacking options off the bench.St Mirren were humbled 4-0 at Celtic Park just last month and knew they'd need to keep it tight in the early stages to avoid a similar result at the same venue.Jota stung Trevor Carson's palms after just two minutes as the hosts spurned an early opportunity to take the lead.Buddies boss Stephen Robinson insisted before the clash his side would look to attack the much-fancied hosts when the chance presented itself and

Red card proves pivotal as St Mirren bow out of Scottish Cup despite determined performance against Celtic

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