Celtic 1 Dunfermline 2

Goals from Barry Nicholson and Gary Dempsey sandwiched a Henrik Larsson effort and were enough to deny The Bhoys the home victory they craved.

The Bhoys dominated the early exchanges and looked determined to make up for their two poor recent results, but they failed to find find the goals against an inspired Derek Stillie.

The Parkhead faithful were in buoyant mood but they were silenced on 28 minutes when Dunfermline took a shock lead.

Celtic failed to deal with a Pars attack and Nicholson volleyed home at the far post from a Lee Bullen cross.

Chris Sutton went close to a leveller but his volley was straight at Stillie.

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill must have been vocal at half time as his side raced out of the blocks and were quickly on level terms, with Larsson heading home from a corner.

The expected onslaught failed to arrive and The Pars found themselves in front shortly before the hour mark when Dempsey rifled a low shot past David Marshall.

Celtic came within inches of finding a response, as Sutton's header from a corner crashed against the post and Johan Mjallby's shot from the rebound was well saved by Stillie.

The Bhoys poured forward but could not force a leveller, with Stillie's fantastic save in the dying seconds from Stanislav Varga securing the points for the visitors.