Celtic beat St Mirren to go second ahead of Rangers

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored in the first half to earn a narrow win for the Bhoys. 

LOOKING UP: Celtic's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates scoring the winner. Pic: Steve Welsh/PA Wire.

Celtic leapfrogged rivals Rangers to move second in the William Hill Premiership with a narrow 1-0 win over St Mirren at Celtic Park.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first-half strike was enough, as Hearts beat Motherwell at Tynecastle, while Rangers head to Falkirk on Sunday.

Oxlade-Chamberlain got Celtic off the mark in the 15th minute, having had a goal chalked off for offside before that, and it was fairly comfortable for Celtic in the first half without creating too many clear-cut chances, though St Mirren did look a threat on the break.

St Mirren offered much more in the second half, certainly in terms of possession, without posing much of a threat.

This was the first time these sides had met since St Mirren stunned Celtic with a 3-1 win to lift the Premier Sports Cup back in December, but a repeat of that never looked likely.

The Green Brigade were allowed back into Celtic Park for the first time since November and were in fine voice, for what was a dress rehearsal for next week’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

After a period of relentless Celtic pressure, the hosts thought they had taken the lead after five minutes when Callum McGregor’s shot was parried by Shamal George, with Oxlade-Chamberlain burying the rebound, only for an offside flag to go up.

St Mirren’s Jonah Ayunga fired wide of the left post after making a mazy run into the box, and Miguel Freckleton had a shot saved by Viljami Sinisalo at the bottom left corner on 13 minutes as the visitors tried to make their mark.

But Celtic took the lead in the 15th minute when Benjamin Nygren found McGregor and when his shot was blocked by Alex Gogic, Kieran Tierney picked out Oxlade-Chamberlain, who rifled into the bottom right corner.

Tomas Cvancara nearly doubled Celtic’s lead after 28 minutes as he slid in for Daizen Maeda’s cut-back from the left, but collided with George, who received treatment for four minutes, before being replaced by Ryan Mullen on 32 minutes.

Mullen was called into action after 36 minutes to block from Cvancara, after good play down the left from Maeda.

Nygren tried his luck with a rising shot a minute later, but Mullen saved at the left post.

St Mirren’s Mikael Mandron headed a Declan John corner over in first-half stoppage time.

The second half was much more of a midfield scrap, with few chances created by either side.

St Mirren’s Manchester United loanee Jacob Devaney tried his luck from distance after 82 minutes, but it was not a problem for Sinisalo, who also saved a low effort from Roland Idowu five minutes later.