Match ends, St. Johnstone 2, Celtic 1.
St JohnstoneSt Johnstone2CelticCeltic1
St Johnstone came from behind to beat champions Celtic and secure a fourth-place Premiership finish.
Leigh Griffiths' solo effort put the visitors ahead at McDiarmid Park, taking his tally for the season to 40.
A howler from Stefan Johansen allowed Steven MacLean in to level with a neat finish.
Efe Ambrose made another costly mistake, colliding with goalkeeper Logan Bailly to allow Graham Cummins to stab in the winner.
With the title secured, Celtic boss Ronny Deila made seven changes to the side that beat Aberdeen 3-2 at Parkhead on Sunday, but paid the price with a fourth league defeat of the season.
Craig Gordon, Charlie Mulgrew and Mikael Lustig were given the night off, with Nir Biton, Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic and Keiran Tierney dropping to the bench.
The travelling Celtic supporters were given a rare glimpse of Scott Allan, Ryan Christie, Saidy Janko and Belgian goalkeeper Bailly among the replacements.
Bailly was busy enough in the early exchanges as St Johnstone found a lot of joy down their right, where Emilio Izaguirre was playing what might prove to be his last game for the champions given Tierney's form.
The goalkeeper had a few testing crosses to deal with in the first few minutes but it was Saints' last line of defence that kept the scoreline level when the visitors finally clicked going forward.
Clark denied Griffiths with a fine save just when Scotland's top marksman seemed certain to convert an inviting cross following intelligent set-up play from Christie.
That was a rare moment of anxiety for Tommy Wright's side as they dominated possession for long spells of the first half as Celtic found it hard to produce any fluent attacking football.
Their increased tempo early in the second paid off with another sublime goal from Griffiths.
There seemed little danger when he picked up possession at the left edge of box but he weaved past two challenges before stabbing a left-foot shot beyond the onrushing Clark, his 31st league goal.
St Johnstone were gifted the chance of a quick equaliser in the 55th minute when Johansen was caught in possession on the edge of his own penalty area and veteran striker MacLean finished with aplomb.
The game looked to be drifting towards a draw before Ambrose tangled with Bailly and Cummins tapped home to make it four straight post-split wins for Tommy Wright's side.
Line-ups
St Johnstone
Formation 4-4-2
- 12Clark
- 14Shaughnessy
- 6AndersonBooked at 35mins
- 3Scobbie
- 24Easton
- 10Wotherspoon
- 20Brown
- 26Craig
- 16SwansonBooked at 61minsSubstituted forDoyleat 90'minutes
- 9MacLeanBooked at 57mins
- 25KaneSubstituted forCumminsat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Mannus
- 5Doyle
- 11Sutton
- 18Cummins
- 31Hurst
- 44McCawl
- 66Krachunov
Celtic
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 26Bailly
- 22JankoSubstituted forRalstonat 74'minutes
- 4Ambrose
- 28Sviatchenko
- 3Izaguirre
- 25JohansenBooked at 28minsSubstituted forBittonat 66'minutes
- 42McGregor
- 27Roberts
- 19AllanSubstituted forRogicat 80'minutes
- 17Christie
- 9Griffiths
Substitutes
- 6Bitton
- 14S Armstrong
- 18Rogic
- 38Fasan
- 49Forrest
- 51Ralston
- 63Tierney
- Referee:
- William Collum
- Attendance:
- 5,959
Match Stats
Home TeamSt JohnstoneAway TeamCeltic
- Possession
- Home40%
- Away60%
- Shots
- Home8
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away4
- Corners
- Home4
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home11
- Away11
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, St. Johnstone 2, Celtic 1.
Post update
Attempt saved. Ryan Christie (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution
Substitution, St. Johnstone. Michael Doyle replaces Danny Swanson.
Post update
Foul by Steven MacLean (St. Johnstone).
Post update
Nir Bitton (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Attempt missed. Graham Cummins (St. Johnstone) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Post update
Attempt missed. Callum McGregor (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution
Substitution, Celtic. Tomas Rogic replaces Scott Allan.
Goal!
Goal! St. Johnstone 2, Celtic 1. Graham Cummins (St. Johnstone) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal.
Substitution
Substitution, Celtic. Anthony Ralston replaces Saidy Janko.
Post update
Attempt missed. Nir Bitton (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Post update
Steven MacLean (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
Substitution
Substitution, Celtic. Nir Bitton replaces Stefan Johansen.
Post update
Attempt missed. Danny Swanson (St. Johnstone) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Post update
Attempt saved. Ryan Christie (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Booking
Danny Swanson (St. Johnstone) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Danny Swanson (St. Johnstone).
Post update
Saidy Janko (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
