Manager Lee Johnson praised Hibernian for holding their nerve to see out a crucial 2-1 victory over St Mirren after admitting their “dominant” first-half performance “fizzled out” after the break.
Goals from on-loan duo Elie Youan and Will Fish gave the Hibees a deserved 2-0 lead at the interval before St Mirren threatened to claim a point in the closing stages after Alex Greive pulled one back.
“I thought we made hard work of it in the second half, we should have had more control than we did,” said Johnson, whose fifth-placed side closed to within a point of city rivals Hearts in the battle for European places. “We didn’t dominate the midfield at all and in the first half we were very dominant.
“A lot of the stuff we worked on through the week was executed to perfection (in the first half). I thought the ball speed and our passing and movement was good and we had good opportunities in the first half.
“In the second half, for whatever reason, we just fizzled out. Not enough were on their game but we continued to work hard.
“We shuffled the pack and changed the shape to cope with a St Mirren side who were throwing caution to the wind after the poor goal we conceded and in the end it was good to see it out. Even in injury time I think we managed it quite well.
“Overall it’s a great win for us, it’s an important win because of that fifth place but also we’re now chasing down everybody ahead of us.”
Hibs lost Jake Doyle-Hayes to a head knock in the first half and Johnson admitted the midfielder will need to be assessed.
“Hopefully he’s OK,” said the manager. “He had quite a nasty bump on the side of his head.
“I just hope it’s not concussion, firstly for him but also for us because he’s an important player. I thought he was outstanding until he went off.”
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson lamented the two goals his side lost.
“It was a disappointing start,” he said. “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, two individual errors have cost us.
“I’ll take my share of the responsibility. I want us to keep the ball from throw-ins, I don’t want us to just chuck it down the line, I want us to try and switch play. We got caught on it today.
“The second is a set-play where we let a runner go. They are goals we don’t usually concede which is frustrating.
“Our response to that was terrific. I asked them to go out and be brave and step forward and we should have taken something out of the game.”
Late Palma strike sinks St Mirren as Celtic celebrate SPL triumph on final day
Luis Palma struck a late winner as champions Celtic twice came from behind to see off St Mirren 3-2 on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season.
It was a day of celebrations at Celtic Park for Brendan Rodgers' side, who wrapped up their third successive domestic title in midweek.
However, St Mirren threatened to spoil the party when Mark O'Hara fired them in front after just seven minutes.
Top scorer Matt O'Riley equalised for the hosts in the 21st minute, but they fell behind again just five minutes later when O'Hara doubled his tally from the penalty spot after Stephen Welsh fouled Toyosi Olusanya.
Kyogo Furuhashi levelled for Celtic before half-time, and the Hoops completed the turnaround with Palma scored the winner with four minutes remaining.
Rodgers' side finished eight points clear of second-place Rangers, who were held to a 3-3 draw by Hearts.
Despite falling behind to Lawrence Shankland's strike, goals from Ross McCausland, Todd Cantwell and Fabio Silva seemingly had the visitors on course for a comfortable win at Tynecastle.
However, there was to be a late twist with Dexter Lembikisa pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute, before Kyosuke Tagawa struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for the hosts.
There was also nothing to separate Dundee and Kilmarnock, who drew 1-1 in the other match on the final day.
Luke McCowan cancelled out Gary Mackay-Steven's earlier effort, though the Dundee captain squandered a glorious opportunity to complete the turnaround when he missed a penalty two minutes from time.
Kilmarnock 0-5 Celtic: Bhoys capture third straight Scottish Premiership title
Celtic have won the Scottish Premiership for the third consecutive season after a dominant 5-0 win at Kilmarnock on Wednesday.
Rangers beat Dundee United 5-2 on Tuesday to make Celtic wait an extra day to secure another league title, but the Hoops brushed aside Kilmarnock with little fuss.
Adam Idah, Daizen Maeda and James Forrest scored in a dominant first half, with Matt O'Riley helping himself to a brace after the interval to cap a memorable display.
Celtic now have an unassailable six-point lead over their Old Firm rivals with one game to play, and they will celebrate their latest crown at home to St Mirren on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Bhoys closing in on rivals
Celtic have won the Scottish title for the 54th time, pulling them within one of rivals Rangers, who have lifted 55.
They have also finished top of the pile in 12 of the last 13 seasons, their only failure to lift the trophy since 2011 coming when Steven Gerrard's Rangers went unbeaten in 2020-21.
Rangers 5-2 Dundee: Cantwell and Wright keep Celtic's title party on hold
Rangers kept Celtic's Scottish Premiership celebrations on ice after Todd Cantwell and Scott Wright inspired a remarkable turnaround to hammer Dundee 5-2 at Ibrox Stadium on Tuesday.
Philippe Clement's side could not afford to drop points in this clash and seemed set to do so after Jordan McGhee bundled home before Antonio Portales headed past Jack Butland in the first half.
Ross McCausland managed to slice the deficit on the stroke of half-time for the hosts, sliding in to convert from Leon King's cross and teeing up a monumental comeback.
The Ibrox crowd were offered further inspiration to keep the title race alive when Cyriel Dessers glanced in from Cantwell's delivery after 52 minutes.
Former Norwich City midfielder Cantwell's fortuitous cross then dipped over Jon McCracken as Rangers hit the front for the first time, before Wright's pair of late finishes sealed the much-needed three points.
Yet this Rangers salvaging act could still matter for little, with Celtic requiring just a point away to Kilmarnock on Wednesday to seal a third successive top-flight trophy.
Data Debrief: Attacking barrage pays dividends
Clement may apportion this victory to Rangers' unrelenting desire to keep the title race ongoing, blasting 31 shots – and 13 of those on target – at the Dundee target for their 3.34 expected goals (xG) tally.
A plethora of attacking opportunities must be credited to star man Cantwell, who created a game-leading six chances – four more than any other Rangers team-mate.
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