St Mirren defender Alex Gogic has publicly backed teammate Ryan Mullen following criticism in the wake of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic…
Ryan Mullen is injured during Celtic’s 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren at Hampden on Sunday 19 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
Mullen faced scrutiny after an early error allowed Daizen Maeda to score inside the opening minute at Hampden. The goalkeeper was later forced off through injury, leading to a debut appearance for 17-year-old Grant Tamosevicius.
Grant Tamosevicius comes on after Ryan Mullen is injured uring Celtic’s 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren at Hampden on Sunday 19 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
St Mirren recovered from a two-goal deficit to take the game into extra time, but conceded four goals in six minutes during the additional period to exit the competition.
In the aftermath, Mullen has been accused by some of exaggerating his injury, with further attention drawn to his previous connection to being a Celtic academy graduate. Gogic has expressed anger at the criticism, particularly highlighting that a significant portion of it has come from St Mirren supporters.
Writing on X, Gogic said: “I have seen some disgraceful tweets about Ryan Mullen after the game yesterday. Ryan is a top goalkeeper and gives everything on and off the pitch and by no means did he want to leave the pitch yesterday.”
“Every player makes mistakes it comes with the job and I’ve made plenty. Unfortunately for Ryan yesterday he was unable to play on despite persevering at first.”
“He does not deserve any of the negativity or accusations he is getting, it’s disgusting. Im so disappointed that majority is from our own fans. As a club we win together and lose together.”
St Mirren celebrations during Celtic’s 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren at Hampden on Sunday 19 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
You’ve got to spare a thought for Mullen – having come through Celtic’s academy, it’s a tough moment for him to make such a costly error on a big stage.
These things happen though, even someone like Gianluigi Donnarumma made a similar mistake against Arsenal on Sunday.
Goalkeepers today are expected to take risks when playing out from the back and that can lead to moments like that. Viljami Sinisalo had a couple of shaky moments trying something similar, which isn’t like him, so hopefully Mullen can put it behind him and bounce back.
I have seen some disgraceful tweets about Ryan Mullen after the game yesterday. Ryan is a top goalkeeper and gives everything on and off the pitch and by no means did he want to leave the pitch yesterday. Every player makes mistakes it comes with the job and I’ve made plenty.… pic.twitter.com/LzEJ6TPfWT
— Alexander Gogić (@Gogic13) April 20, 2026
Conor Spence
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