St Johnstone are off the mark in the Premiership.
A magnificent team performance resulted in the first Perth point of the season for Steven MacLean’s men.
Celtic huffed and puffed but Saints stood firm and even had a couple of second half chances to claim all three points.
But one is a huge step in the right direction.
The McDiarmid Park side now have a platform to build on.
Saints, with eight summer recruits and three debutants in their starting line-up, produced a disciplined first half performance to go into the break on level terms.
Celtic had plenty of the ball and a few close things, of course – a couple of them early in the game.
Kyogo made a near post dash that got him to Alistair Johnston’s cross before Andy Considine and was close to making it 1-0 on 11 minutes.
Then five minutes later Dimitar Mitov had to be at his agile best to get a strong hand to a Matt O’Riley volley and spring back to his feet to help it over the bar.
Saints had earned themselves a foothold in the game and midway through the half they had a chance of their own.
A Graham Carey free-kick from the left was met by Luke Jephcott but the Welshman couldn’t keep his shot on target.
Saints had Mitov to thank for keeping the scoreline blank shortly after.
A superb save with his legs to deny O’Riley for a second time showed exactly why he’s been called up to the Bulgaria squad this week.
Mitov hat-trick
It was a Mitov thwarting O’Riley hat-trick five minutes after the restart – this time a point blank, near post block.
Andy Considine had played very well at the heart of the Perth defence but he had to be replaced by club captain, Liam Gordon, on 65 minutes after picking up what looked to be a hamstring injury.
On a rare Saints’ counter-attack, Dara Costelloe out-muscled Liam Scales on the right side of the pitch and then tested Joe Hart with a shot from an acute angle.
With 83 minutes on the clock Carey did brilliantly to turn defence into attack and play a ball over the top for substitute Stevie May to chase.
May got his shot left-foot on target but it was a comfortable save for Hart.
The referee added on eight minutes of stoppage time and Saints saw them out to claim a precious point.
St Johnstone – Mitov 8, Considine 8 (Gordon 6), Carey 7, Jephcott 6 (May 6), Olufunwa 6 (Brown 6), McClelland 7, Robinson 7, Smith 7, Turner-Cooke 7 (MacPherson 5), Phillips 7, Costelloe 7. Subs not used – Richards, Gallacher, Kane, Kucheriavyi, Ballantyne.
Saints’ star man – Dimitar Mitov
There were plenty of outfield candidates – skipper for the day, Dan Phillips at the top of the list – but the man between the posts was at his brilliant best yet again.
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