Luke McCowan’s deflected strike earned Celtic a 1-0 victory in their William Hill Premiership opener after St Mirren had frustrated the champions for 87 minutes at Parkhead.
The substitute collected Daizen Maeda’s square pass on the edge of a crowded penalty box and fired a shot which appeared to spin off Mark O’Hara’s leg and nestle into the bottom corner of the net.
Celtic had earlier hit the frame of the goal through Benjamin Nygren, Reo Hatate and Adam Idah, while Callum McGregor had a goal disallowed following a VAR intervention.
The Hoops were not at their free-flowing best but they ended the first weekend of the season two points ahead of Rangers, just like last season, when they remained above their rivals throughout the campaign.
Former Celtic captain Paul McStay performed the duties as the home side unfurled the league flag for the 13th time in 14 years and fourth season in succession, and fans sang “Here we go, 10 in a row” as the game drew to a close.
However, manager Brendan Rodgers’ assertion that they need new attacking options was backed up by a performance that lacked inspiration in front of goal.
Rodgers had warned even before the latest title triumph was wrapped up that a freshness was needed in terms of players. And he delivered a public message on Friday that he would only consider extending his contract beyond next summer if the board met his need for them to show ambition to move the club forward.
Rodgers had two summer signings in his starting line-up in left-back Kieran Tierney and midfielder Nygren.
His front three was led by Idah with Yang Hyun-jun on the right wing and the left wing occupied by Maeda, who was so effective in a central role following the January exit of Kyogo Furuhashi.
Yang struggled to make any sort of impact before being replaced by James Forrest just before the hour mark and it was Celtic’s midfielders that offered the biggest goal threat.
Celtic’s early creativity came from Tierney on his return to competitive action with his boyhood club six years on from leaving for Arsenal.
The Scotland international twice delivered crosses for Idah, who failed to trouble goalkeeper Shamal George, and saw a strike diverted over by Alex Gogic.
Maeda rounded the keeper after McGregor’s quickly-taken free-kick but could not overcome the tight angle and O’Hara threatened at the other end with a curling strike that was beaten away by Kasper Schmeichel.
Celtic came closest to a first-half breakthrough in the closing seconds when George pushed Nygren’s shot on to the bar and saved the Sweden midfielder’s headed rebound.
The St Mirren keeper did well to stop McGregor’s low drive just after the break and was relieved to see the ball bounce wide off his body after Hatate’s speculative effort had deflected off Marcus Fraser’s boot and the bar.
McGregor charged down O’Hara’s clearance and fired home midway through the half but the VAR team disallowed the strike for handball, after the ball appeared to hit the Celtic captain’s upper arm, without referee Don Robertson being called to the monitor.
Idah then volleyed a shot off the post from eight yards after chesting down a Liam Scales cross.
St Mirren were occasionally posing a threat on the break. Mikael Mandron forced a save and Oisin Smyth fired straight at fellow sub Austin Trusty from a good chance.
The key moment then came at the other end as McCowan kick-started Celtic’s title defence.
