Celtic began their Scottish Premiership season with a victory, but were far from convincing as they struggled to break down a resilient St Mirren.
Luke McCowan’s deflected 87th-minute effort split the sides in what was a frustrating match for Celtic, their lack of intensity coupled with solid defending reducing them to few clear cut chances.
Their best chance fell to new boy Benjamin Nygren, but the Swede’s attempt from a low Daizen Maeda cross was pushed on to a post by goalkeeper Shamal George, who then did well to get to the rebound.
Before kick off there was a mixture of emotion and celebration as Celtic fans paid tribute to Lisbon Lions John Clark and John Fallon, who died during the summer, then watched former captain Paul McStay unfurl the championship flag.
But rather than the occasion inspiring Brendan Rodgers’ side, it took them a while to find their feet.
Celtic stepped up a gear in the second half, and did have the ball in the net, but Callum McGregor’s effort was ruled out after the VAR officials determined that the captain controlled the ball with his arm in the build up.
While St Mirren performed some heroics defensively, they couldn’t keep out McCowan’s strike from the edge of the area, the substitute’s shot taking a significant deflection off Mark O’Hara before evading George.