Two goals in six second-half minutes saw Celtic maintain their two-point advantage at the summit of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at the expense of Dundee United.
Paul Hartley created both goals at Tannadice, the first of which came in the 69th minute when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed in from a corner.
The second came shortly afterwards when Stephen McManus connected with a free-kick to bundle the ball in at the back post.
During an entertaining opening period, Vennegoor of Hesselink had a header tipped acrobatically onto the bar by Grzegorz Szamotulski, while for United Barry Robson also struck the woodwork.
Yet Celtic's defence - featuring Bobo Balde for the first time in a year - remained unbreached on the road for the first time since their shutout of Falkirk in October 2006.
Going into the game, Celtic had taken just six points from their previous five outings and, having only stopped their opponents from scoring in one of those encounters, manager Gordon Strachan turned to Balde.
Balde's last game was, coincidentally, against United in a 2-2 draw on St Stephen’s Day last year. The Guinea international was preferred to Steven Pressley, who failed to make the squad.
Balde got a rousing reception from the Celtic supporters and the game then started promisingly, with both teams' determination to put their opponents under pressure producing in a fast pace.
The early efforts on goal were slightly disappointing though, with Jordan Robertson and Hartley both shooting over, while in the 10th minute Celtic showed a glimpse of their attacking potential.
A flowing move saw Gary Caldwell, Vennegoor of Hesselink and Aiden McGeady all link up, but Scott McDonald was caught in an offside position from the Irishman's cross Scott McDonald.
Celtic goalkeeper Mark Brown then had the simple task of gathering a header from Noel Hunt, while Jiri Jarosik should have done better after latching onto a Vennegoor of Hesselink knock-down to fire wide.
With chances continuing to be traded, Robson whipped a superb corner onto the head of Lee Wilkie but he flashed the ball past Brown's far post.
The visitors retaliated with Lee Naylor bending a free-kick over and McManus cracking a volley off the crossbar - although referee Eddie Inness had already blown his whistle for offside.
Both goals continued to live a charmed life as Robson rattled the bar with a searing shot from 35 yards and Celtic also struck the woodwork before the interval.
Vennegoor of Hesselink met Hartley's corner with a towering header, only for Szamotulski produce an outstanding save as he tipped the ball up into the air and off his own crossbar.
The second half followed the same pace and McDonald was soon presented with a chance to shoot from McGeady's pass, but the Australian dragged the his effort wide.
Sean Dillon then had to be well placed to cut out a McDonald cross after a strong run from Scott Brown, but none of the United defenders could stop Vennegoor of Hesselink meeting Hartley's corner. Nor could they prevent the Dutchman's downward header which bounced inside Szamotulski's far post.
Another simple set-piece soon secured all three points for Celtic as Hartley's free-kick missed everyone in a packed United penalty area, apart from McManus that is, who bundled the ball past Szamotulski.
The visitors went agonisingly close to scoring a third goal with 10 minutes remaining, but from McGeady's pass Brown hammered a shot off the post.
