Celtic maintained their pursuit of Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts with a narrow 1-0 victory over St Mirren. A first-half goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was sufficient for Martin O'Neill's team to leapfrog Rangers into second place, keeping them three points adrift of Hearts, who secured a late win against Motherwell. Despite a blistering start, Celtic struggled to find their rhythm, with Oxlade-Chamberlain's 15th-minute strike, which found the bottom right corner, being the decisive factor. The hosts created several opportunities to extend their lead but were unable to capitalize, with substitute Kelechi Iheanacho missing a gilt-edged chance in the second half.
St Mirren, on the other hand, were limited to a single shot on target, as Celtic ground out a crucial, albeit unconvincing, win. This encounter marked the first meeting between the two sides since St Mirren's shocking 3-1 win in the Premier Sports Cup in December, but a repeat of that outcome never seemed likely. The Green Brigade, returning to Celtic Park for the first time since November, were in fine voice, setting the tone for next week's Scottish Cup semi-final. Celtic thought they had taken an early lead when Callum McGregor's shot was parried by Shamal George, only for Oxlade-Chamberlain's rebound to be ruled out for offside.
The visitors had their moments, with Jonah Ayunga firing wide and Miguel Freckleton having a shot saved by Viljami Sinisalo. However, Celtic took the lead when Benjamin Nygren found McGregor, whose shot was blocked, and Kieran Tierney picked out Oxlade-Chamberlain to score. Tomas Cvancara nearly doubled the lead, but his effort was thwarted by George, who was later replaced by Ryan Mullen due to injury. The second half was a more subdued affair, with Iheanacho missing the best chance to seal the win.
St Mirren's Jacob Devaney and Roland Idowu tried their luck from distance, but Sinisalo was equal to the task. Celtic manager Martin O'Neill expressed concerns over his team's energy levels, stating, 'We won the game, which was the most important thing, but we lacked energy.
We didn't seem to have that spark.' St Mirren boss Craig McLeish, meanwhile, was disappointed with the outcome, saying, 'We're missing that little bit of creativity in the final third to create more chances from open play.'