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BBC Sport Scotland’s Alasdair Lamont
We will probably never know what Brendan Rodgers said in the McDiarmid Park dressing room at half-time on Sunday, but what is abundantly clear is that his players’ reaction is exactly what he was looking for.
From a precarious position on Sunday lunchtime, they got away with three problems in this game and, more amusingly for the manager, continued their momentum by surprising Hibs on Wednesday night.
The key, without a doubt, was the early advance, which disappointed Hibs’ game plan and calmed the home side, allowing them to play with a more fluid style, culminating in a comfortable and emphatic victory.
It was the kind of functionality and result that Celtic enthusiasts were accustomed to under Angel Postecoglou, that the industrious, snorting and dazzling gasps in the house attract to St Johnstone and Motherwell.
The important thing for Rodgers and Celtic now is to get to that point of showing, which is actually what the manager will be asking for, to make sure the merit on Rangers doesn’t diminish before the teams meet at the end of the month.
Celtic, in this form, are almost untouchable at the national level. Rugby Park, their next destination, is the easiest position to play this fluid football, but that’s the challenge of champions.