St Johnstone 2 Celtic 4

Celtic fended off a second-half St Johnstone revival to win 4-2 at McDiarmid Park and give themselves a lift before a crucial Champions League trip to Israel.

On Tuesday, Celtic will aim to defend their 5-2 first-leg advantage against Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the play-off round of Europe’s lucrative club competition, with the group stage beckoning.

Before making the trip, however, Brendan Rodgers' team had Ladbrokes Premiership business with which to contend, and goals from Leigh Griffiths, Scott Sinclair and James Forrest saw them cruise 3-0 ahead by half-time.

There was almost a dramatic turnaround, but Celtic staved off the late threat.

Hoops substitute Liam Henderson fouled Danny Swanson to hand the home side a penalty in the 82nd minute which the St Johnstone midfielder converted, before striker Steven MacLean grabbed a second in the 88th minute.

Ryan Christie struck from close range in added time to relax Celtic, who made it two wins from two matches in the early stages of their title defence.

Meanwhile Kenny Miller rescued victory for Rangers as his last-minute strike handed the Light Blues a dramatic 2-1 win over Motherwell at Ibrox.