The official story will offer a more formal narrative but this season’s title was won in a charged last minute of an acrimonious game at Rugby Park yesterday afternoon.

Scott Brown, having not scored for Celtic for almost exactly two years, clearly got a taste for it with his goal against St Johnstone last weekend. Here he was, with the aid of an Alex Bruce deflection, netting a 90th minute winner to move Brendan Rodgers’ side eight points clear at the top of the table. Brown’s goal, a goal that for much of this turgid afternoon did not appear to be in the offing, made sure that the Parkhead side twisted the knife on Rangers’ slip to St Johnstone on Saturday. It was a goal that also lit the fuse on a chaotic finale to the afternoon.

Goal scoring isn’t the only thing that Brown has a taste for. The Celtic captain has become something of a pantomime villain as he hams it up to the gallery all over the country. There was an argument to suggest that he was fortuitous to still be on the park in those final stages after an earlier crunching tackle on Greg Taylor that on another day might have been dealt with more severely that the yellow it received.

His second booking, though, came amidst mayhem. After finding the net Brown launched himself into the Celtic support and as they spilled over onto the trackside, a handful from the opposite end of the park idiotically made their way onto the pitch too. Throw in in the smoke flares and the surge of the crowd, and it made for a tumultuous conclusion to the game. Earlier in the game television pictures had also appeared to show former Rangers striker Kris Boyd being hit with a coin thrown from the Celtic support.

By the time the whistle went shortly after, the pitch had returned to order but the celebrations continued. Steve Clarke described the over-the-top nature of them as a backhanded compliment to Kilmarnock and there was a truth in that. But more tellingly, as the Celtic fans cavorted in front of their own support there appeared to be a tacit understanding that the victory dance was more about just the three points but rather about the distinct turn the season has taken since the winter break.

Few would anticipate that Celtic will stumble now as they home in on the final straight. Rodgers, of course, did not quite offer that view publicly.

“It’s another step,” said the Celtic manager. “There’s what, 12 games to go? Still a lot of games, still a lot to play for. But I think on the back of our midweek game, which was a really really tough game with the exertions of that physically and mentally, this is as hard a place as you can come to with the surface and everything else. So to come through that with a clean sheet and get the three points was very pleasing. But we have to focus on the next game, that’s the key message, that mantra of the next game.”

If the experience against Valencia was bruising in the Europa League on Thursday night was bruising, there was a balm in this result. And there was a peculiar symmetry in how the numbers pointed in Celtic’s favour; an eighth successive home win, eight domestic clean sheets, an eighth successive title on its way, eight points clear at the top. From a goal delivered by their number eight.

If this one wasn’t particularly pretty, it was effective. And while it remains a well-worn cliché, if the hallmark of champions is to find a way to grind it out on days like this then Celtic have become fairly reliable on that front.

In truth, there has been little between the teams for much of this. Odsonne Edouard clipped a first-half chance just wide of the post and Ryan Christie screwed a header wide of the target in the second period but there was not a great deal for Dan Bachmann to deal with.

Kilmarnock’s Conor McAleny had had a goal disallowed after the whistle had clearly gone in the build-up for the use of a hand but the Ayrshire side had asked a few questions of their own. Broadfoot had a first-half header go just wide following a Chris Burke corner while Eamonn Brophy also had Scott Bain and Kristoffer Ajer scrambling to clear their lines.

“It was a great win for us,” insisted Rodgers. “I thought we played well. It’s never an easy place to come and you’re never going to create a load of chances because of the speed of the surface and everything else. But also because Kilmarnock are super organised and make it tough for you.

“Everyone talks about, when rivals slip up and draw, as Aberdeen and Rangers did, but you’ve still got to exploit that. Obviously to come here, a very difficult place on the back of a really tough midweek game, just keeps our domestic form going to a really high level. I thought we played well and had good control.”

The real control lies in their league table position now.