St Johnstone 2-4 Celtic

Celtic maintained their 100% start to the domestic season after surviving a late St Johnstone comeback in Perth.

The champions scored three goals in 16 minutes before half-time, Leigh Griffiths rifling home a volley before Scott Sinclair tapped in a rebound.

James Forrest's superb run and finish effectively settled matters, but Saints rallied with two late goals.

Danny Swanson converted a penalty before Steven MacLean bundled in, but Ryan Christie sealed it in injury time.

The substitute's smartly taken goal ensured Celtic claimed their second win from two games.

Their focus will now turn to reaching the Champions League group stage, with Brendan Rodgers' side preparing to fly out to Israel for Tuesday's second leg of their play-off against Hapoel Beer Sheva with a 5-2 lead in the tie.

Griffiths 'had no need to dive'

In the opening 25 minutes, Celtic's most productive attacker was not Griffiths or Sinclair or any of their other go-to forwards, it was Kieran Tierney, their young full-back.

He put in two crosses that caused Saints bother, then he won a free-kick that Sinclair fizzed just past a post. His key play was in the build-up to the opening goal, causing the panic down that left side, from which Griffiths sent Celtic on their way.

On his 26th birthday, Griffiths was again terrific. Count his assists during the course of the season and it won't be a millions miles off his goals tally.

There was a negative here, though. He got booked for diving - and rightly so. Does that make him a cheat in Scott Brown's world?

Hearts fans will holler - and they already have - that what Brown said about Jamie Walker he should also be saying about Griffiths. The striker had no need to do it.

Leigh Griffiths went down in the St Johnstone box, but was booked for diving

Celtic 'so dangerous in attack'

There's a far greater speed of thought in Celtic's attack. Their second goal came from a turnover in midfield.

Celtic came alive in those moments and Saints - terribly weakened by the loss of injured defenders - were a confused mess at the back.

Poor Alan Mannus made two fine saves in the midst of this rapid Celtic attack, first from Forrest and then Griffiths. He couldn't make a third. Sinclair put it away.

What a dangerous attack Celtic have now. So much pace and goal-threat when opposing teams lose concentration.

Reborn Forrest back to form

Forrest's sumptuous finish with the outside of his right foot put Celtic in command

Nowhere is the Rodgers effect more evident than in the return to form of Forrest, who took Griffiths' beautifully cushioned delivery and ran and ran to score the third.

This was the Forrest of old, reborn as a winger with elan and confidence.

At the end of last season he looked to be finished at Celtic. Now he looks a big threat to Patrick Roberts on the right-hand side of Rodgers' midfield.

Celtic's Achilles heel

Credit Saints for the fightback and for shining a light on the big Achilles heel in this Celtic team.

Hapoel scored two swift goals midweek and there were two more here - the 82nd-minute Swanson penalty, after a clumsy challenge from Liam Henderson, and the 89th-minute goal for Maclean after more weakness at the back from Celtic. Unbelievably, they were now hanging on.

St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright went for the equaliser, going 3-4-3 at the end, but it backfired when Christie drilled in the fourth.

Saints' mettle is beyond question, as is Celtic's capacity to construct goal mountains.

Post-match reaction:

St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright: "There is no doubt Celtic were excellent, particularly first half, but we contributed to that.

"The three goals were all poor goals from our point of view. We gave the ball away cheaply on the halfway line, we don't win the second ball in midfield, something we are brilliant at, and the third goal...we should deal with the problem on the halfway line and we don't.

"That's not taking away anything from Celtic, they were magnificent. We showed character in the second half and were better and if we had maybe a bit more time we might have pulled off an unbelievable result."

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers: "I thought 99.9% of that game we were outstanding. The quality of our football, in particular the first half, was excellent. I don't think the scoreline reflected the game if I am honest.

"We got four goals and we maybe could have got another four, which is a huge compliment to the players because this is a St Johnstone team that has done really well under Tommy Wright."