St Johnstone 0-2 Celtic: Neil Lennon’s team achieves late win at McDiarmid Park

Late goals from Leigh Griffiths and Patryk Klimala snatched three Scottish Premiership points from Celtic after a difficult match against St Johnstone.

His substitute teammate Klimala then secured the points in injury time with a shot at the near post.

The victory puts Celtic ahead of the Rangers, as both have played nine games.

However, Steven Gerrard’s side may return to the top when they welcome Ross County at 15:00 BST.

For St Johnstone, it was a fourth consecutive loss in the league and now they have only scored once in their last seven games.

Callum Davidson’s team had the best chance in regulation time, Craig Conway crashed an attempt at a vertical, and Perth’s team also had the clearest chance of the first half hour.

Conway’s swinging ball lured Vasilis Barkas off his line. David Wotherspoon got ahead of him but got too much on his header when he just needed to look past the Celtic goalkeeper.

With David Turnbull, in their first start, one of three changes since Thursday’s Europa League win in Bosnia, Celtic had the majority of the opening possession.

In fact, they could have gotten an early penalty if referee Nick Welsh had seen Liam Gordon pulling Shane Duffy’s shirt into a corner.

Callum McGregor, later Odsonne Edouard, had openings, but St Johnstone got closer when Conway rocked a pole after David Wotherspoon picked him with a brilliant early center.

That acted as a wake-up call for Celtic. Turnbull badly timed a header after being picked by McGregor, before Klimala narrowly volleyed and Griffiths had a deflected attempt.

However, when he got the chance in the 90th minute, he was not wrong. A cross search for Hatem Elhamed found the Scottish striker, who buried his head butt on Clark.

There was still time for Klimala to make the game seem more comfortable than it was, and the Polish striker faced a challenge before diving for the near post.

Man of the match – Leigh Griffiths

What did we learn?

Celtic’s results have been excellent in recent weeks, but it is clear that they are not performing at their best.

Think back to the beginning of the year, when they were running full blast and Griffiths and Edouard made an excellent partnership. Griffiths made his first appearance of the term here and it had a real impact.

This was a performance that encouraged St Johnstone. Although they have had a bad streak, they looked confident on the ball and confident in their defense, with the three at the back especially impressive. With a better finish, they could have won the game.

What did they say?

St Johnstone Manager Callum Davidson: “I thought the players performed at a very high level and limited Celtic to very little change.

“I am absolutely devastated for them more than anything else. Celtic have five quality substitutes and they are chasing the game.”

Celtic coach Neil Lennon: “I think the substitutes gave us more urgency. I think our first half was not good enough, the second was better.

“Scott Brown’s influence on the team is evident. You can’t disguise any kind of statistics with what he brings.”

Whats Next?

After the international break is the big one for Celtic, the Old Firm match on October 17. Meanwhile, St Johnstone will have two League Cup games next week: Kelty Hearts on Wednesday and then Brechin City on Saturday.