Celtic maintained the pressure on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts after a nervy 1-0 victory over St. Mirren.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first-half strike was enough for Martin O'Neill's side to stay within three points of Hearts, who scored twice in the last five minutes as they came from behind to beat Motherwell 3-1.

Oxlade-Chamberlain thought he had given the hosts the lead inside the opening seven minutes at Celtic Park, but his close-range volley was ruled out for offside.

However, the former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder was not to be denied in the 15th minute, slotting past Shamal George after Callum McGregor's initial attempt ricocheted kindly into his path.

St. Mirren, who will face Celtic again in the Scottish Cup semi-finals next weekend, went close to equalising deep in first-half stoppage time, but Liam Donnelly headed narrowly over from a corner.

Kelechi Iheanacho was narrowly off target midway through the second half as the Hoops looked to press home their advantage, though the single-goal margin was ultimately enough to keep them firmly in the title race.

Data Debrief: Hoops maintain St. Mirren dominance

Celtic held on for their 12th win in 14 meetings with St. Mirren in the Scottish Premiership (D2).

The Hoops have now lost just one of their last 40 home matches against the Buddies in all competitions.

St. Mirren arrived at Celtic Park off the back of successive SPL wins, but missed out on recording three straight victories in the Scottish top flight for the first time since December 2024.

It was not the most convincing performance from Celtic, who outperformed their 0.92 xG from seven attempts on goal, yet they only faced a single shot on target.