Celtic showed there is no substitute for competitive sharpness as they won the Dublin Decider against Liverpool at the Aviva Stadium.
Despite conceding a huge amount of possession to their English rivals the Hoops, with five serious matches behind them thanks to Champions League qualifiers, succeeded where it mattered most - in front of goal
Amido Balde scored with their first chance of the game and while they spent a long time defending they did it effectively even though Liverpool created enough chances to have won the game themselves.
Brendan Rodgers' side had gone into the game on the back of six friendly victories, conceding just once against Valerenga on Wednesday, but they lacked a cutting edge.
The return of Daniel Sturridge, out with an injured ankle since May, for 45 minutes in the second half, could not have come soon enough with the Premier League season only a week away.
With last season's leading scorer Luis Suarez suspended for six matches even if he remains at the club - Arsenal are still keen despite owner John Henry adamant they will not sell to a rival - and summer signing Iago Aspas still looking lightweight up front there is a real need for someone of Sturridge's ability to provide the spearhead.
Stewart Downing, whose future is again in doubt after interest from West Ham, provided some positive moments but it may have come too late to save his Anfield future.
Philippe Coutinho produced some flashes of brilliance but also failed to threaten goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska, who was kept busy in the first half against a tide of attacking red shirts.
But the most significant impact was made by Balde, who gave young centre-back Andre Wisdom, deputising for vice-captain Daniel Agger who was left on Merseyside, a tough time for over an hour before he was substituted having done the hard work.
In the 13th minute the Portuguese striker easily turned Wisdom after being put through by Anthony Stokes and drilled in a low shot which caught the underside of Simon Mignolet's body but bounced up and over the line.
Downing almost equalised immediately with a shot which was blocked while Coutinho latched onto Glen Johnson's through-ball only for Zaluska to save.
The goalkeeper was also required to palm Downing's shot around a post after the winger had cut in from the right and he also denied Johnson.
With Liverpool enjoying a vast amount of possession Celtic defended resolutely and sought to hit their opponents on the counter-attack but their only other chance came right at the end of the half, with Stokes' header from Emilio Izaguirre's cross failing to test Mignolet.
Sturridge was sent on for the second half in place of Aspas and within three minutes he did what the Spaniard had failed to do in 45 by producing a threat with an early shot.
Coutinho somehow managed to completely miss Downing's cross and shoot wide having created an opening for himself either side of Sturridge forcing a near-post save from substitute goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
Late on, Sturridge's lob from another inch-perfect Coutinho pass drifted wide of the far post and a fierce strike from the edge of the area rippled the side-netting.
The last thing Liverpool wanted with Stoke to face in next weekend's curtain-raiser was for doubts to creep in about their capabilities up front in the absence of Suarez, but Sturridge may yet provide the antidote if he can persuade Rodgers he is fit enough.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article