Celtic responded well to the disappointment of their 3-0 loss to Rangers, taking full advantage of their city rivals’ slip-up earlier in the day to go 13 points clear at the top of the table with a routine win over St Mirren.

A double from Nicolas Kuhn (who else?) either side of an Auston Trusty header had the champions on easy street, with the sloppy Saints contributing to their own downfall with some poor errors.

It all made for a hugely satisfying day for Brendan Rodgers and his men as they responded to a rare setback in some style.

Here are the talking points from Celtic Park…

An emphatic response from Celtic after sticky start

After the disappointment not only of the result against Rangers, but of the lethargy of the performance, you may have expected Celtic to come out all guns blazing here to make amends to their fans, who showed their support early on with choruses of ‘stand up for the champions’.

It didn’t quite work out that way early on, with St Mirren never likely to allow Celtic to run over the top of them from the first whistle. The visitors settled well in their shape, and the hosts struggled to create anything of note in the opening half hour.

Just as a little anxiety was beginning to creep in though, Rodgers’ men strung together a beautiful move to cut the Buddies open and hit the front.

Callum McGregor kicked it off with a lovely forward pass to Luke McCowan, who in turn swept it out wide to the left for Daizen Maeda. The winger is sometimes criticised for his composure in such situations, but he calmly rolled the ball across to Kuhn, who was steaming in from the opposite flank to slam home under Zach Hemming and give Celtic lift off.

What a difference a few days make as Celts kill title race talk

The prospect of a proper title race was still very much fanciful despite the despair that had enveloped Celtic and their supporters after the humbling at Ibrox, but their mood was certainly lifted both by their own side’s response, married to Rangers spilling more points on the road before we had even kicked off here.

Any prospect that Celtic would get the jitters or suffer a dent to their confidence were dispelled beyond doubt in the end, and whatever little damage was done to their huge buffer at the top of the league was almost entirely restored as they moved 13 points clear once more.

Rodgers said before the match that the facts don’t change after one poor performance, and he is right. Celtic are capable of a level of consistency that neither Rangers or any other side can match, and that is why the league is all over bar the shouting.

Saints shoot themselves in the foot once more

You have to wonder if the St Mirren players are aware that Christmas is over. For all that Stephen Robinson’s men are renowned for their organisation, they haven’t half made life difficult for themselves over the last couple of games by handing out gifts to the opposition.

Fresh from Alex Gogic’s horror show at Rugby Park, the men in blue had their manager tearing out his hair once again here as they gave Celtic a helping hand they scarcely needed to put the game to bed before the interval.

Firstly, goalkeeper Hemming – making the first appearance of his second spell at the club after Ellery Balcombe was recalled by Brentford - may feel he should have done better with Kuhn’s effort to break the deadlock as it squirmed under him, but Celtic’s second was the one that really had Robinson hopping mad in his technical area. And he’s animated at the best of times.

Arne Engels’ corner delivery was a wicked one, but Richard Taylor was dozing as he allowed Trusty to peel off him and glance the ball into the far corner beyond Hemming.

After that, the only question was how many Celtic fancied, and Saints presented them another on a silver platter after the break, as Hemming and Gogic somehow conspired to squirt an Engels backheel to Kuhn at the back post to tap into an empty net. It was schoolboy stuff.

Trusty to be trusted on big occasion again?

The debate over who is to partner Cameron Carter-Vickers at the heart of the Celtic defence has rather swung over the past few weeks on the back of poor performances from either of the contenders for the position, with Trusty hooked at half time in the League Cup final against Rangers to lose the spot, and then being reinstated here after Liam Scales had a shocker at Ibrox on Thursday.

Trusty’s first goal for the club was a bonus for him, but more noteworthy when it comes to assessing his ability to keep Scales out of the team was a solid defensive display up against the physicality and running power of Toyosi Olusanya.

There will of course be more chopping and changing over the course of a hectic January fixture schedule, but Trusty will likely be the man trusted beside Carter-Vickers when the next really big fixture rolls around.

King Kuhn reigns supreme

What more can be said about the winger? He was hardly alone in turning in a hugely disappointing display at Ibrox, but he hit back here with a more customary showing of inventive and pacey wing play.

What’s more, he got yet another two goals, his 15th and 16th of an incredible campaign so far, and he might have had more. If he can maintain this level, he will likely sweep the end of season awards.