James Forrest provided Celtic supporters with the exciting ending they wanted by scoring a crucial goal in stoppage time against St Mirren, extending his impressive streak of scoring for the club to 16 seasons in a row.
Forrest waited until the 38th game of the league season to open his account, on a day when he was selected to present the William Hill Premiership trophy to his teammates before Callum McGregor lifted it for the fourth consecutive year.
St Mirren had taken the lead through Jonah Ayunga's goal and were even on course for a spot in Europe at one point, until Alistair Johnston assisted fellow substitute Forrest, who calmly slotted the ball inside the near post to level the score at 1-1.
After being brought on in the 55th minute, Forrest injected energy and creativity into the Celtic team, with the home fans honoring him with banners and chants of his name.
The winger then added to his collection by receiving the 26th winner's medal of his career at Celtic, surpassing the previous record held by Bobby Lennox.
St Mirren supporters could be proud of their team's performance and their unbeaten run in the post-split fixtures, but they were also disappointed to miss out on fifth place.
Aberdeen's defeat against Dundee United, sealed by Sam Dalby's goal in the 63rd minute, meant that St Mirren's hopes of European qualification had already vanished even before Forrest's late equalizer.
The first half saw St Mirren adopting a defensive approach, guarding their box and providing protection for goalkeeper Zach Hemming, who handled a series of corner kicks.
St Mirren striker Mikael Mandron came close to breaking the deadlock in the first half, with his angled shot forcing Kasper Schmeichel to make a save.
Nicolas Kuhn could have earned a penalty early in the second half after avoiding Richard Taylor's challenge, but he opted to stay on his feet. Kuhn then set up Paulo Bernardo, who hesitated with his shot and missed the opportunity.
The visitors shocked Celtic Park in the 51st minute when Jonah Ayunga capitalized on a clearance by Liam Scales and slotted a left-footed shot into the corner from 16 yards.
Celtic needed a sense of urgency, which was injected into the game with the introduction of Forrest, along with Luke McCowan and Yang Hyun-jun.
Forrest played a key role in creating opportunities, including chances for McCowan and Callum McGregor that were blocked, as well as setting up Daizen Maeda with skillful wing play.
Despite Maeda having 33 goals for Celtic this season, he missed a golden opportunity to score from close range when he headed the ball over the crossbar.
St Mirren continued to threaten on the counterattack, with Mandron heading wide and Schmeichel making a save from Roland Idowu's shot.
Celtic intensified their attacks in the closing stages, with substitute Johnny Kenny's speed causing trouble for the St Mirren defense. Hemming made a double save before denying Yang's acrobatic effort moments later.
Ignoring the calls to shoot, Forrest set up Jeffrey Schlupp, whose shot was excellently blocked by Marcus Fraser.
The 33-year-old forward had seen previous attempts blocked before his storybook ending with the crucial goal.