Facing an opponent who had lost their previous six fixtures, an expectant Parkhead was in full voice as the hosts seized the initiative from the off.
Spirits could have been dampened when Kyōgo Furuhashi’s sixth-minute strike was ruled out for offside, but if anything, that only turned up the volume.
Those fans were nearly rewarded too, as Reo Hatate sent a brilliant banana shot towards the bottom corner, only for Marvin Keller to make a superb save down to his right.
It looked only a matter of time until the deadlock was broken, but the officials had other ideas, rightly chalking off two more Kyōgo goals, firstly for a foul on Cheikh Niasse by Callum McGregor in the build-up, before the Japanese international was thwarted once more by the offside flag.
The Bhoys were getting frustrated by now and those tensions only escalated when Arne Engels had a terribly tame penalty saved by the excellent Keller after Greg Taylor was hauled down in the box by Darian Maleš.
Giorgio Contini must have given the visitors a bit of a roasting at half time, as they were much tighter at the back after the break.
Even when Celtic did break past that back line, Keller was in the way again, making another flying stop from captain McGregor, who had set his sights on the bottom corner from 25 yards, before Kasper Schmeichel came to the rescue at the other end, making a terrific double reaction stop from two powerful Maleš strikes.
Given the prize on the line, the hosts were getting more and more infuriated as they failed to find a way past their Swiss opponents.
But they remained undeterred, and finally found a way past Keller when Adam Idah ran on to a through ball and although his shot was saved, an unfortunate Loris Benito diverted the rebound into his own net.
There was more drama to come though, as Celtic had Daizen Maeda sent off in the dying minutes, with VAR intervening to ensure the 27-year-old was shown a straight red card for petulantly kicking out Mohamed Ali Camara.
They still clung on for a 1-0 win that means Brendan Rodgers has guided a side out of this stage of the UCL for the first time in his career as they are guaranteed a spot in the top 24, whereas Young Boys extend their miserable run in this competition to one away win from the last 12 attempts.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marvin Keller (Young Boys)