St Johnstone put a dent in Celtic's title ambitions with a dramatic 1-0
victory in an incident-packed match at McDiarmid Park.
There were near-misses in both halves and it looked as if the sides would have
to settle for a share of the points.
But then Saints were awarded a corner after 72 minutes, Alan Preston took the
kick and George O'Boyle got the final touch in a packed goalmouth.
The striker limped off just afterwards and substitute Roddy Grant squandered a
golden chance six minutes from time and then he saw his header cleared off the
line by Paul Lambert a minute later.
In a nail-biting finale Celtic had penalty claims turned down when Norwegian
substitute Harald Brattbakk went down in the box but the referee ruled there had
been no infringement.
Then in a furious final spell Celtic had three great chances inside a minute.
First Saints' keeper Alan Main saved with his feet, then skipper Jim Weir
cleared off the line and the keeper again came to the rescue.
But Saints held out for three valuable points from their second victory in
eight outings.
Celtic's defeat - and Rangers victory over Dundee United - now opens up a
four-point gap between the two Glasgow sides, with Hearts two points ahead of
Celtic in second place.
Saints' best chances in the first half came from Nick Dasovic in eight minutes
and then O'Boyle shortly afterwards.
The visitors were quick to attack after the interval, Tom Boyd putting over a
dangerous cross but failing to find a Celtic head.
Saints forced two corners in quick succession on the left, and from the second
the ball broke to Philip Scott but he delayed too long and the chance was lost.
Then O'Boyle got on the end of a Stuart McCluskey cross on 56 minutes for
Saints, but Gould managed to beat away his powerful drive.
Other efforts from Celtic came from Morten Weighorst, who drove the ball
against Main from close range, and then a header from Jackie McNamara who
outjumped Callum Davidson but Main held his looping header.
Three players were booked - Weir for Saints and McNamara and Alan Stubbs for
Celtic.
Teams:
St Johnstone: Main, McCluskey, Davidson, Dasovic, Weir,
Kernaghan, Scott, O'Neil, Kane, O'Boyle (Grant 74), Preston.
Subs Not Used: Griffin, Wright.
Booked: Weir.
Goals: O'Boyle 72.
Celtic: Gould, Boyd, Hannah, McNamara, Annoni, Stubbs (Thom 84),
Jackson (Brattvakk 62), Burley, Wieghorst, Lambert, Blinker.
Subs Not Used: Donnelly.
Booked: McNamara, Stubbs.
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