It was a strange old match at Parkhead. The atmosphere, well it was non-existent. The play, uninspiring, low key and at times desperate to watch.
But then up stepped Henrik Larsson to counter all the peculiarity and find the winning goal.
With 18 minutes on the clock, Chris Sutton cleverly flicked on to the onrunning Larsson and he shielded the ball expertly before firing past Derek Stillie.
Stuart Dougal, the match referee, was again the subject of much post-match talk, the Dunfermline camp somewhat aggrieved at a number of his second-half decisions, most notable when he turned away from a seemingly obvious pull by Joos Valgaeren on Stevie Crawford with the Dunfermline player on route to goal.
The visitors worked hard throughout and probably deserved a point but in truth they rarely threatened to any serious effect.
Had Crawford found the net with his 12th minute shot, which Celtic goalkeeper Magnus Hedman superbly turned round the post, the scoreline may have been different.
As the game wore on, the anxiety in the Celtic side and amongst the support, became more and more evident.
Dunfermline pressed for long periods and Celtic's only real chances aside from LarssonÂ’s strike came from a 51st minute header from John Hartson, which was somehow cleared off the line, and a vicious Alan Thompson shot with 11 minutes remaining which Stillie did superbly to parry.
At the other end, Lee Bullen passed up a great chance to level matters in the 76th minute when the ball broke his way only for the Dunfermline man to snatch at his shot.
Celtic will be pleased to have taken the points in the end, but perhaps more so at the fact the Swedish defender Johan Mjallby successfully finished his first game back after a lengthy lay-off.