Kilmarnock 0 Celtic 1

Tom Rogic scored a last-minute screamer to keep Celtic top of the Ladbrokes Premiership after a largely frustrating 90 minutes for the defending champions at Rugby Park.

Celtic looked all set to hand Aberdeen the chance to move top at Motherwell later in the afternoon as they laboured against the second-bottom team.

Celtic struggled to create clear chances, the best two falling to centre-back Erik Sviatchenko following corners, as Kilmarnock harassed their visitors into mistakes, held their shape well and threatened to snatch a victory during an improved second-half show.

But substitute Rogic fired into the top corner from 25 yards to earn Celtic a 1-0 win, their first victory over Killie this season.

Celtic brought in Colin Kazim-Richards on the left after Gary Mackay-Steven failed to shake off an ankle knock while Kilmarnock were without Steven Smith and Josh Magennis, who turned up for the game in a protective boot.

Kris Commons had a decent shot on target inside 60 seconds but Killie also had an early chance when Craig Gordon stopped Kris Boyd’s volley.

Celtic created a steady stream of chances in the opening 20 minutes. Nir Bitton's heavily-deflected strike spun just wide, Leigh Griffiths had a header saved and Sviatchenko missed a good headed chance.

But Kilmarnock increasingly frustrated Celtic as the half progressed and Celtic struggled to get in behind.

When they did stretch their hosts, Celtic failed to make the most of it. Callum McGregor elected to turn inside instead of shooting first time and Commons shot weakly with his left foot when the right was the more natural option.

Killie were rarely going forward and Kallum Higginbotham shot over after being presented with a difficult chance to catch Gordon off his line on the counter-attack.

Celtic made a change just before the break when Kieran Tierney went off after picking up an ankle injury earlier in the game, Dedryck Boyata coming on as Charlie Mulgrew moved to left-back.

And Ronny Deila made a tactical switch at half-time. Winger Patrick Roberts replaced Commons and Kazim-Richards went up front in a new 4-4-2 formation.

Killie left-back Lee Hodson came close with a curling effort early in the second half but the game soon settled into a familiar pattern of Kilmarnock defending deeper but breaking more effectively than the first half.

Celtic were struggling to break through but Sviatchenko had another good chance from a corner only for Julien Faubert to clear his header off the line.

Kilmarnock increased in confidence in possession though and substitute Aaron Splaine made space to shoot from 25 yards but hit his effort straight at Gordon.

Griffiths curled just wide from 22 yards before Splaine had a better chance but scooped his shot wide.

But Rogic sparked wild celebrations with an unstoppable effort as Celtic went four points clear ahead of the 3pm fixtures.