Celtic dominated for large spells against Falkirk but were undone by two first-half goals in a surprise 2-0 Scottish Premiership defeat.

Martin O’Neill bemoaned his side’s wastefulness after the reigning champions fell to their first loss against Falkirk in 19 years, having gone unbeaten in the previous 19 meetings between the clubs with 17 wins and two draws.

Falkirk struck first when Cameron Carter-Vickers diverted the ball into the path of Ethan Ross, who slammed home the opener in the third minute.

Their second arrived in the 38th minute through Scott Tanser, who burst clear of the Celtic defense after latching onto Owen Eames’ through ball to slot past the keeper.

Despite conceding twice, Scott Bain was the standout performer for the hosts, producing nine crucial saves to deny Celtic. 

The veteran goalkeeper pulled off brilliant stops to keep out Haissem Hassan, Camilo Duran, James Forrest and Mika Baur throughout the contest.

Celtic were left to rue missed chances, hitting the woodwork through Duran shortly after falling behind and failing to score from 24 attempts despite registering 2.8 expected goals.

Speaking after the game, O’Neill said his side had created enough chances to have won three games, while admitting they had conceded poor goals, including one very early in the match.

The Celtic manager also stressed the need to tighten up defensively and start keeping clean sheets, though he felt his team had played some decent football and created plenty of chances without converting any.

The club captain added that the squad was naturally disappointed to have lost the game.

It was only Celtic’s second league defeat of the season, but it meant they missed the chance to extend their four-point lead at the top of the Premiership table.

Celtic have now won just three of their last 10 matches in all competitions, drawing one and losing six, but O’Neill insisted he understands the scrutiny that comes with the job and pointed out that the team was in a worse position at this stage last year.