Larsson's last-minute repeat act

St Johnstone 1St Johnstone 1 Celtic

Celtic's ability to go right to the brink surfaced yet again yesterday as they seized victory in stoppage time for the second successive Saturday. Last week it was Joos Valgaeren who broke Kilmarnock's resistance, this time it was the more familiar name of Henrik Larsson who struck the 91st-minute winner.

The Swede remained cool as Celtic confronted the prospect of dropping vital points and, when Chris Sutton was fouled by Nick Dasovic just outside the box, Larsson curled a right-foot free-kick around the wall and into the top corner of the net. It was cruel on St Johnstone, whose performance belied their place at the bottom of the Scottish Premier League, 34 points adrift of the leaders.

Sutton was given a standing ovation before the game from the large Celtic support, in recognition of his performance against Juventus, although the striker's 'reward' from Martin O'Neill for his two-goal performance was to be made centre-half for the day. Initially, Sutton had to be alert as the bottom club sought to exploit any apathy among O'Neill's side.

The pace of Keigan Parker and Mark Lynch posed problems, as did Tommy Lovenkrands, who twisted past Didier Agathe to fire a shot into the side net. Another burst from the Dane then exposed Johan Mjallby, allowing Lovenkrands to whip in a low cross which the goalkeeper Robert Douglas had to smother, with Parker hovering.

Douglas's counterpart, Alan Miller, matched that bravery when he dived at the feet of John Hartson, who was poised to profit from Bobby Petta's dribble. However, the on-loan Blackburn Rovers keeper could do little when he was beaten after 18 minutes – by a clinical piece of finishing from his own man.

Indeed, sloppiness was written all over St Johnstone's defensive efforts, with no one pressuring Mjallby's run from deep, or picking up the run of Stilian Petrov, who drifted wide. The Bulgarian's low cross was bulleted past Miller by Darren Dods, whose foolish diving header provided a spectacular own goal.

However, Dods was pointing in the right direction eight minutes later when he atoned by heading the equaliser. Paul Hartley's corner allowed the giant defender to glance the ball into the roof of the net. Sutton then intervened to prevent Benito Kemble's header beating Douglas just before the interval.

There was little let-up for Celtic's defence in the early stages of the second half. It was carved apart in the 54th minute with a flowing move which ended with Grant Murray's deep cross into the box being met by Paul Hartley's off-target diving header when Lovenkrands, following in behind, was poised to pull the trigger on a volley.

Paddy Connolly then went close with a shot which woke up Celtic to the fact that this was not going to be an easy day at the office. Hartson was having a particularly bad time, with a fresh-air shot from Larsson's set-up. The £6m striker was being handled adeptly by Dods, though one piece of deftness from the Welshman, with 20 minutes left, put Larsson in against Miller. The Swede lifted the ball over the keeper, but it bounced wide of target. At the other end Lovenkrands ought to have scored after Connolly had set him up, following Sutton's carelessness, but the winger fired wide.