Celtic eased back to winning ways as they defeated Motherwell 3-0 in the Scottish Premiership at Fir Park to reclaim the top spot on goal difference.

Goals from midfielder Luke McCowan who was making his first start for Celtic and stand-in skipper for the first time Alistair Johnston and second-half substitute Adam Idah were enough to secure all three points in Lanarkshire without the Scottish champions breaking too much sweat.

It was the hosts and in particular Lennon Miller who almost stunned the visitors with two ferocious strikes after eight and ten minutes respectively which cracked the woodwork.

On eight minutes Miller thundered a drive off the post after Kasper Schmeichel had put Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo on bother with a pass he didn't want. Miller was then fouled on the edge of the box and dusted himself down to curl a free-kick off the face of the crossbar.

It was the Celtic who drew first blood after 27 minutes when McCowan drove forward and buried an accurate low drive past Aston Oxborough in the Motherwell goal. It was totally against the run of play but that didn't bother Rodgers as the £1 million deadline day signing bagged his second career goal for the club.

Celtic thought they had a second when Daizen Maeda latched on to Alistair Johnston's terrific through pass and as Stephen O'Donnell appeared to wrestle the Japanese winger to the deck the ball tricked in via the post. After a lengthy delay in which referee David Dickinson was unsure which call to give it was VAR who finally ruled it out due to a handball against Maeda. At the interval, it was Celtic who held onto their slender lead.

It was Kyogo Furuhashi who almost doubled it shortly after the restart but Oxborough managed to parry his low effort away. However, Celtic did make it 2-0 with a goal of sheer quality after 56 minutes when Valle slung over a wonderful cross from the left and Johnston leapt to bury a fantastic header to make it game, set and match.

Celtic played some decent stuff after that and substitute Adam Idah struck the post with a deflected effort before he finally got on the scoresheet in the closing stages after an excellent assist from fellow substitute Nicolas Kuhn to make it 3-0.

Motherwell's day of misery was complete when Dickinson brandished a red card in injury-time to Liam Gordon for a late challenge on Idah.

That's two clean sheets in a row for Celtic and it is safe to say Rodgers and his men have enjoyed a good week both domestically and in Europe.

A first start for Luke McCowan and the boy can do no wrong

What a player this boy is. The 26-year-old midfielder is living his best life with his boyhood heroes. It was McCowan who was the architect of everything good about Celtic and he almost single-handedly dragged them back into the contest after a ragged opening. McCowan rifled home a superb opening goal in 27 minutes with a sweetly low-struck shot. It was his second goal for Celtic and it couldn't have come at a better time as Rodgers's men were struggling to gain a foothold in the contest. He is one of their own and McCowan will prove to be one of the bargain buys of the season. McCowan connected and linked the play from middle to front with ease all afternoon and was a joy to watch at times. It's early days in his green and white career but McCowan is already shaping up to be the midfield player that the likes of homegrown talent David Turnbull should have been for Celtic.

Stand-in skipper Alistair Johnston was immense and a potent weapon down the right

You can't beat an overlapping full-back, can you? Johnston was deputising for captain Callum McGregor who missed out with an abductor injury. In his first start with the armband, Johnston was an example to his teammates and proved that he was a true leader. He had clearly been briefed to get forward at every opportunity by his manager as Celtic got some joy with that tactic. He got the memo. It was Johnston's pass that almost led to a Celtic second goal when Maeda was pulled up for handball when he might have had a case for a penalty. Nevertheless, it was a sumptuous pass from the Canadian right-back. Johnston was in the right spot at the right time to put the nogging on Valle's brilliant cross to put the seal on a magnificent display to make it 2-0 as he bagged his third of the season. If he sticks around in Glasgow's east end for the duration then he is the heir apparent to inheriting the Celtic captaincy. That's a big if, of course.

Alex Valle starting to enjoy his time at Celtic

The La Masia Barcelona graduate is beginning to enjoy himself in Glasgow. He's absolutely relishing the combat with Greg Taylor for the full-back berth. The Spaniard was one of Celtic's unsung heroes against Atalanta in Bergamo when he gave a coming-of-age performance. He has a keen eye for the pass inside and possesses a different skill set from Taylor but this will all be to Celtic's benefit moving forward. He linked well with Maeda and Valle is starting to understand his role within the team which is why it is functioning to a high level at the moment. It was his pinpoint accurate cross from the left that picked out the head of his captain and made all three points safe. Rodgers will be delighted with Valle's output in the last few games.

Cameron Carter-Vickers returns to the bench as Trusty and Scales impress again

It was a welcome sight to see American defender Carter-Vickers stripped and ready for action as he made the substitutes bench. However, Carter-Vickers's stay on the bench could be longer than he anticipated as his compatriot Auston Trusty has set an incredibly high bar in his last two matches. Trusty is forming a wonderful partnership with Liam Scales at the back of the central defensive pack. If you work on the yellow jersey premise that the man in possession has the shirt until something goes awry then it may well be Carter-Vickers who has to bide his time before he gets back into the starting eleven. Trusty and Scales were brilliant in Bergamo against Atalanta and were fantastic again at Fir Park as they made light work of the Steelmen's threat. Carter-Vickers did manage a 20-minute cameo when he came on for the excellent Valle. The Celtic supporters and Rodgers will just be happy to see him back on the grass.