Kevin van Veen scored for the eighth consecutive game as Motherwell moved into seventh place in the cinch Premiership and left St Johnstone in relegation peril.
The Dutchman dinked home a re-taken penalty in the 52nd minute at McDiarmid Park after having his initial effort saved.
Motherwell survived a brief spell of late pressure before Mikael Mandron’s stoppage-time goal sealed a 2-0 victory which removes any lingering doubt about the Lanarkshire side’s top-flight status.
Van Veen has scored 11 goals in eight matches and 26 in total this season, while his 22-goal Premiership haul leaves him just two short of fellow PFA Scotland player of the year nominee Kyogo Furuhashi.
The only concern for the visiting support was the sight of the forward limping slightly with an apparent foot knock after being taken off late on.
Saints could not manage any shots on target and are only three points ahead of 11th spot with three games left and five ahead of bottom club Dundee United after Steven MacLean suffered his first defeat in three matches as interim boss.
Both sides made one change because of the absence of St Johnstone midfielder Melker Hallberg and Motherwell wing-back Max Johnston. Former Well attacker Jamie Murphy and Stephen O’Donnell came in.
There was little in the way of first-half action but Van Veen was at the centre of it. The Dutchman shot not far over from 22 yards with his left foot and had a goal disallowed for offside.
Motherwell’s Dan Casey had the only shot on target in the first half while Saints midfielder Graham Carey twice shot over the bar from half chances.
The breakthrough came out of the blue as Andy Considine tried to nip in front of O’Donnell just inside the box after Van Veen had helped the ball on. The wing-back got his body in the way and referee Grant Irvine pointed to the spot as soon as the Motherwell player went down.
Remi Matthews saved Van Veen’s initial spot-kick but referee Irvine quickly signalled a VAR check and soon pointed to the spot again for an encroachment.
Matthews dived the same way but his time Van Veen chipped down the middle of the goal.
The Dutchman soon threatened again after being left one-on-one with Considine but Matthews held his stabbed effort.
Stevie May and Drey Wright were off target from two decent openings for Saints, who lost Considine following a collision with Matthews.
Interim manager Steven MacLean brought on Chris Kane in the 84th minute as the striker made his first appearance since January 2022 and St Johnstone forced some corners but could not capitalise.
The win was wrapped up in the third minute of added time when Mandron finished from six yards after getting the ball back from Blair Spittal’s low cross.
Rodgers salutes Celtic's 'Champions League mentality' in St. Johnstone rout
Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to Celtic's "Champions League mentality" in their 6-0 rout of St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Kyogo Furuhashi scored twice, while Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah were also on target for the Hoops, who warmed up for their midweek European trip to Borussia Dortmund in emphatic fashion.
The dominant victory moved Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table - ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference - as they continued their perfect start to the season, with a sixth win in as many games.
And Rodgers was pleased by the character his players demonstrated.
"I thought this was an opportunity to show our mentality," he told Premier Sports. "All the noise has been about Dortmund, but I wanted a Champions League mentality here, and I thought the boys controlled the game.
"We wanted to keep our rhythm going. You see some of the guys coming in this evening, like Valle coming in at left-back, showing his composure.
"Most were looking at it as a tick-box before Dortmund, but for me, it was to show their mentality. Everyone will be flying on Tuesday night, but I want to see how they do when they’re here, or other grounds. It’s a case of just focusing in on that.
"I thought the variety of our game was very good; everything you'd want from your team."
Looking ahead to Tuesday's clash with Bundesliga giants Dortmund, he added: "[They] are a good team with top players, so we can't get away from that.
"OK, they've lost one or two [players] from last year, but I always say we make sure we press, make sure we attack. It's a tough game, but we'll look forward to it."
Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit
Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.
Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.
Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.
The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.
Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect
Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.
Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.
Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.
St Johnstone 0-6 Celtic: Defending champions continue perfect start
Celtic stormed to the top of the Scottish Premiership with a thumping 6-0 win away at St Johnstone.
The defending champions thought they had taken the lead early on through Daizen Maeda, but VAR intervened due to a foul in the build-up.
Nevertheless, a brace from Kyogo Furuhashi and Paulo Bernardo's sumptuous strike virtually ended the contest at half-time.
There was to be no mercy in the second half though, as captain Callum McGregor added a fourth for Celtic shortly after the restart.
Maeda and substitute Adam Idah added further gloss to the scoreline to make it six league wins out of six for Brendan Rodgers' side so far this campaign and take them top, ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference.
St Johnstone are now just a point above second bottom in the table.
Data Debrief: Defence first
Celtic have kept a clean sheet in each of their last six games in the league.
Their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of seven games from 26 April 2015 to 9 August 2015, so as well as their rampant attack, Rodgers' team have a mean defence, with St Johnston accumulating only 0.29 expected goals (xG) on Saturday.
With two assists in this match, meanwhile, Nicolas Kuhn now has four in total for the season, which is two more than any other player in the Scottish Premiership.
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