Celtic 3-0 St Mirren: Nicolas Kuhn's double helps Hoops move 13 points clear at top of Scottish Premiership

Report as Celtic bounce back from Old Firm loss to beat St Mirren 3-0 at home and move 13 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership; Nicolas Kuhn's double and Auston Trusty's header saw Celtic take full advantage of Rangers' slip-up at Hibernian after their 3-3 draw

Monday 6 January 2025 10:20, UK

Nicolas Kuhn's double helped Celtic quickly bounce back from Thursday's Old Firm loss with a 3-0 home win over St Mirren to move 13 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The Hoops, who were beaten 3-0 at Ibrox, took full advantage of Rangers' slip-up earlier on Sunday as their rivals drew a six-goal thriller at Hibernian.

Celtic made a sluggish start against St Mirren but eventually found the breakthrough in the 33rd minute with their first shot on target as Kuhn swept home Daizen Maeda's cross.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers made four changes to the side that lost at Rangers and one of those brought in, Auston Trusty, made the desired impact as the defender headed in the home side's second from a corner in the 43rd minute.

Celtic's second-half domination was finally rewarded in the 68th minute after some calamitous St Mirren defending allowed Kuhn to tap in his second.

Adam Idah was denied adding a fourth after his goal was disallowed for offside, while St Mirren's only shot on target at Celtic Park came in the 90th minute.

The Buddies have now suffered three consecutive defeats, with Stephen Robinson's side dropping to sixth.

Celtic, meanwhile, remain firmly on course for a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title as they maintained their unbeaten home record in all competitions this season.

Rodgers 'very happy' with winning response to Old Firm disappointment

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers speaking to Sky Sports:

"I thought the players were excellent. We're not used to losing and we deserved to lose in the last game [against Rangers], but we didn't dwell on it. We analysed the game and saw it as a learning opportunity, and the players took that into today.

"I thought the performance level was excellent against a team that's super organised. They're always hard to beat, and you've seen that in the results this season, so for us to score three goals and play as well as we did, I was very happy."

On Rangers' dropping points before kick-off: "The only thing that we've done in the last couple of days before kick-off is just recalibrate after the last game.

"We arrived at the halfway point in a really good place, refocused ourselves because that's all you can control really.

"Of course, if other teams drop points then that's the way it goes. But for us, it's just all part of the climb. It's the journey to get to the very end, by the end of the season.

"So for us it really is about our own performance because you can't control what other teams do."

On whether he is happy at the halfway stage of the season: "Very. I think we're in a really, really good place. The campaign's a long campaign. There's lots of work, but that's 17 wins and two draws and one defeat.

"I think the consistency that these players have shown over 12 months has been remarkable.

"So really, really happy with how they're playing and how we're working, but always room for improvement."

Robinson: Second goal killed us

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson speaking to Sky Sports:

"The second goal killed us. It's an uphill task from then.

"We started the second half quite brightly and tried to make positive changes but then it's a mix-up in communication for the third goal.

"We didn't have loads of chances but ultimately the quality wears you down and making mistakes like we have done over the last three games then you don't win matches."