St Mirren delivered a punch-perfect performance to floor Celtic and end the champions’ incredible unbeaten run.
The in-form Hoops were looking to make it 39 consecutive Premiership games without defeat.
But the Buddies produced a sublime 90 minutes in Paisley to deservedly pick up all three points.
After stifling the visitors in the first half, Mark O’Hara’s bullet header put the home side in front just before the break.
And Jonah Ayunga added a second shortly after the restart, netting from close range to double the home side’s advantage and put them on the brink of their first home league win against the Hoops since 2010.
A superb defensive performance limited Ange Postecoglou’s side to very few chances, with the Saints running out deserved winners and launching themselves up the Premiership table.
St Mirren headed into the clash knowing a win would push them up to third in the Premiership table ahead of Hearts trip to Motherwell. That was always going to be a tough ask against a freescoring Celtic side that had comfortably won their first six games of the season on the spin.
Saints boss Stephen Robinson resisted the temptation to drop one of his front two for a more defensive-minded formation, with Jonah Ayunga and Curtis Main leading the line. Eamonn Brophy and Alex Greive had to be content with places among the substitutes.
The Buddies started the first half brightly, pressing the Hoops into their own half. Declan Gallagher’s long throw from the right picked out Main in the box, but his flicked header was comfortably saved at the near post by Joe Hart.
O’Hara picked up a loose ball on the left wing, capitalising on a Stephen Welsh slip, before sending Ayunga racing in behind Mortiz Jenz. The striker did brilliantly to slide the ball into the box, but it was too far away from Main to convert.
It took ten minutes for Celtic to muster their first serious effort. A short corner was worked to Aaron Mooy on the edge of the box, with the Australia international given plenty of time and space before firing well over the bar.
The hosts were keeping the Hoops at bay, with their midfielders and forwards tracking Postecoglou’s side well as the visitors team looked to fashion an opener.
Robinson’s men were still dangerous on the counter-attack, with Scott Tanser’s deep cross almost picking out Ayunga in the box before Jenz eventually cleared the danger.
Ryan Strain’s pace was causing all sorts of problems for Celtic down the right wing. He burst past Daizen Maeda before flinging in another teasing cross that had to be dealt with by the retreating away defence, with the resulting corner coming to nothing.
David Turnbull was fortunate to escape a booking for pulling Keanu Baccus to the ground off the ball, with referee Don Robertson only dishing out a warning.
The Saints were battling terrifically hard to make it to the break with honours still even and Baccus and Strain, in particular, impressing.
And it was the latter that created St Mirren’s breakthrough. He found space on the right wing before curling a sublime cross to the back post, which O’Hara powered past Hart to break the deadlock.
Postecoglou rang the changes at half-time, with Reo Hatate and Jota on for Mooy and Maeda as the visitors looked for more of a creative spark up front.
But it was the Buddies who struck first after the break in the simplest of fashions. Declan Gallagher’s long throw in wasn’t cleared by the Hoops defence, with Ayunga pouncing on the loose ball to fire home and double the hosts’ lead.
Celtic subs Georgios Giakoumakis and Hatate almost combined to halve the deficit, with the latter’s deflected strike comfortably saved by Trevor Carson.
The Saints were still dangerous on the break and almost made it three on the hour mark, with O’Hara floating a header just past the far post and Hart rooted to his line.
Giakoumakis headed straight at Carson from a promising position as the clock started to tick down on the visitors.
Strain was given a much-deserved standing ovation when he was forced off injured. Alex Gogic replaced the flying full-back in St Mirren’s defence.
Richard Tait was forced into a clearance at the back post late on, with Jota also planting a header wide from a promising position as the Hoops desperately tried to find a response.
But, in the end, the Buddies ran out comfortable winners, with the full-time whistle sparking huge celebrations from the home fans as they lapped up a rare win against the Glasgow giants.
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