St Mirren were edged out by Celtic at Celtic Park as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first-half goal saw the points remain in Glasgow's East End.
But Saints can take encouragement heading into next weekend's Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final against the Hoops after a good display at Parkhead. The Buddies moved the ball around well and controlled large parts of the second-half, but failed to really trouble Viljami Sinisalo in the Celtic goal and left empty-handed.
Interim manager Craig McLeish named the same starting lineup that defeated Aberdeen 2-0 at The SMiSA Stadium last Saturday. McLeish had stressed to his players heading into the game the importance of seeing out the early period of the match and Celtic did control the opening stages with the offside flag denying Oxlade-Chamberlain a goal on six minutes Callum McGregor's powerful long-range strike stung the palms of Shamal George who could only push out as far to Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Englishman volleyed the rebound home but was rightly denied by the linesman's flag.
Saints did settle after early pressure from Celtic. Jonah Ayunga flashed a low strike wide of the near on nine minutes before Miguel Freckleton's long-range effort was held by Sinisalo in the Celtic goal.
However, Celtic would take the lead on 16 minutes just after Saints best spell of the early part of the game. It was another McGregor strike that caused the danger, deflecting into the path of Oxlade-Chamberlain who slotted into the corner.
Saints were dealt a blow around the half-hour mark when George was caught late by Tomas Cvancara who was sliding into to try to connect with a low ball across the face. The Saints stopper couldn't shake off the issue and had to be replaced by Ryan Mullen. Mullen's first task was to gather a curling effort from Benjamin Nygren from the edge of the area on 38 minutes.
Ryan Mullen came on as a first-half substitute (Image: Allan Picken)
Kieran Tierney had to make a vital intervention for the hosts as we headed into six minutes of added time at the end of the first-half. Jacob Devaney's clipped ball found Mikael Mandron at the back post with Tierney having to get himself in front of the forward to knock it wide. Liam Donnelly came close in the final moments of the half. He rose highest to meet Declan John's corner but nodded over.
Saints would go on to control large spells of the second 45 without creating the opportunity they would crave to draw level. Alex Gogic met a Mark O'Hara cross just before the hour mark, but headed over with the flag eventually being raised in any case.
Despite being the better side, the Buddies still had to be alert to Celtic's danger. Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho turned a Daizen Maeda cross just by the post while Donnelly made a terrific challenge to deny the Nigerian forward the chance to go one-on-one with Mullen.
Saints' opportunities were limited to a shot from distance from the impressive Devaney that was routine for Sinisalo before substitute Roland Idowu shot into the arms of the goalkeeper from a tight angle.
Celtic saw the final minutes out to take all three points. Saints remain two points ahead of Kilmarnock who occupy the relegation play-off spot as we head into the split. Focus turns to our Scottish Cup semi-final contest against Celtic at Barclays Hampden next Sunday.
Full-Time: Celtic 1-0 St Mirren
St Mirren: George (Mullen 32), Donnelly, Gogic, Freckleton, O'Hara (c) (Richardson 73), Phillips, Devaney, Campbell, John (Idowu 80), Mandron (McMenamin 80), Ayunga (Young 73)
Subs: King, Tanser, Douglas, Etete
Celtic: Sinisalo, Ralston, Trusty, Scales, Tierney, McGregor (c) (Hatate 73), Oxlade-Chamberlain (McCowan 73), Nygren (Engels 62), Yang, Maeda, Cvancara (Iheanacho 62)
Subs: Doohan, Arthur, Saracchi, Forrest, Tounekti
Referee: Duncan Nicolson
AR1: Frank Connor
AR2: Scott Anderson
Fourth Official: Daniel Graves
VAR: John Beaton
