Tom Rogic’s exquisite finish was enough to give Celtic a 1-0 win against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
The Aussie international netted after 23 minutes and the Hoops could have won by more had it not been for a string of fine saves from impressive Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
The Dons threw everything in search of a equaliser with Craig Gordon making a dramatic late save to prevent Erik Sviatchenko netting an injury time own goal.
The result sees Celtic open up a 10-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes named a surprising line-up for the match with top scorer Adam Rooney and James Maddison, the Dons’ best performer in recent weeks, dropping to the bench with captain Ryan Jack and Niall McGinn starting in their absence.
Celtic were without Kieran Tierney after he sustained ankle ligament damage in training which will keep him out of action for two months. Emilio Izaguirre stepped in as his replacement as Brendan Rodgers made six changes that started Wednesday’s 4-0 victory at Ross County with Moussa Dembele reinstated at the expense of Leigh Griffiths.
The Dons survived an early scare when goalkeeper Joe Lewis made a fine double save to deny Stuart Armstrong and Dembele before Jonny Hayes received treatment following a clash with Hoops captain Scott Brown.
The home side, however, had started brightly and almost broke the deadlock after 10 minutes when Shay Logan picked out the unmarked McGinn but his effort was blocked by Erik Sviatchenko.
But it was Celtic who opened the scoring after 23 minutes when a slack header from Logan as he attempted to clear a Mikael Lustig cross was pounced on by Rogic who guided the ball into the corner of the net with the outside of his left boot.
It was a sucker-punch for the Dons and it took a while for them to regain their composure but they had a chance to restore parity 10 minutes before the break when McGinn crossed for Andrew Considine but his header flew over.
The same combination linked up five minutes before the break but this time Considine’s volleyed attempt was blocked by Jozo Simunovic.
Armstrong should have put Celtic two in front just before the break but he failed to connect with a Rogic pass with the goal at his mercy.
Aberdeen goalkeeper Lewis was called into action early in the second half when Scott Sinclair darted past Logan before his curling effort was tipped over the crossbar.
The Dons made a double change only eight minutes into the second period when Maddison and Rooney were brought on for Jack and McGinn.
But Celtic continued to push forward with Rogic racing onto a searching pass from Mikael Lustig before again being denied by the overworked Lewis.
Lewis came to the rescue again moments later when Rogic picked out the unmarked Dembele but the former Cardiff City stopper was in the right place to deny the Frenchman.
The pressure on the Aberdeen defence was relentless with Rogic passing up another gilt-edged chance when he dragged his effort wide on the hour mark after a neat exchange from Sinclair and Dembele.
Against the run of play, Aberdeen almost got back into it when a Rooney flick on fell for Burns but he was unable to find a way past Craig Gordon.
The red mist descended with 12 minutes to go when Celtic captain Brown kicked the ball off Graeme Shinnie as he lay on the deck after being floored by a Mikael Lustig challenge.
When calm was restored, Brown, Lustig and Hayes, who knocked the Celtic captain to the ground, were all cautioned for their part in the heated scenes by referee Steven McLean.
The Dons had a claim for a penalty turned down in the dying embers when Jozo Simunovic looked to have pulled back Shinnie as he was about to pull the trigger.
Maddison could have earned the Dons a point in injury time but he volleyed over from 12 yards out as the Hoops held on for the win.