HEAD BHOY

Nygren the difference as hosts run Hoops close

- GAVIN McCAFFERTY

BENJAMIN NYGREN'S 10th goal of the William Hill Premiership season was enough for Celtic to edge a difficult encounter at Falkirk.

The Swede headed home an Arne Engels corner two minutes before halftime as Celtic continued their recovery under Martin O'Neill with a 1-0 victory.

The win put the Hoops into second place, ahead of Rangers on goal difference, and kept them six points adrift of Hearts.

But they had to survive a torrid first-half spell and a late scare to emerge from the Falkirk Stadium with their second clean sheet in two games since O'Neill was handed the task of rescuing Celtic's season after a turbulent month under Wilfried Nancy.

Daizen Maeda looped a header wide early on after getting in behind the Falkirk defence but the home side soon got the upper hand.

They looked compact out of possession, harried Celtic into mistakes, broke forward quickly and put some dangerous balls into the visitors’ box.