2018-04-21: Hibernian 2-1 Celtic, SP

Match Pictures | Matches: 2017 – 2018 | 2017-18 Pictures

Trivia

• Celtic lose for only third domestic defeat this season; could have won the league today but will have to wait till next weekend to defeat Sevco at Celtic Park
• Ex-Celtic manager is doing an exceptional job at Hibs, who are playing excellent football and dominated this match.
• Celtic on course for back-to-back domestic trebles; defeated Sevco in the Scottish Cup Semi-finals last Sunday by 4-0 in a ‘shellacking’. Already won the league cup.
• Hibs trying to make it into Europe by leapfrogging over Sevco in the league.
• Boyhood Hibs fan Leigh Griffiths admitted he would be left with mixed emotions if Celtic were to win the Premiership at Easter Road on Saturday. “I wouldn’t say that it’ll be special for me – it would be more of a weird feeling to win it there,” said Griffiths. Obviously, I grew up as a Hibs fan but Celtic pay my wages now and I need to help us achieve the three points we need. “I used to dream about winning the league at Easter Road but maybe not quite like this – it will be weird going there to try to secure the title but that’s how it’s turned out and I just need to concentrate on that.”
• Celtic have eared £27.6m from Champions League TV money it is claimed. (Evening Times)
• Rumours: Celtic could make a summer move for Serbian centre half Vujadin Savic after being linked with him last month.Hoops scouts were keen to see him in action over the weekend but the 27-year-old didn’t play against Partizan Belgrade, so they could take in the match away to Radnički Niš in the hope of seeing him in action. The likely fee would only be in the region of £1.5 million, according to reports.
• Rumours: Scott Bain is ready to shun an approach from Stoke City and commit his future to Celtic. The on-loan Dundee ‘keeper is known to be on the radar of many clubs, having spent time on loan at Hibs earlier this season.But Bain’s representatives are already locked in talks with Hoops chiefs about a long-term deal for the 26-year-old goalie.
• Rumours: Celtic have been credited with an interest in QPR midfielder Ryan Manning, and could make a move this summer for the Irishman. Crystal Palace are also keeping tabs on the Republic of Ireland U21 international, who has impressed for Ian Holloway’s side this season.
• Arsenal legendary manager Arsene Wenger has announced his resignation after 22 years as Arsenal manager; papers putting Rodgers as favourite for the role. We hope not.
• New Celtic kit revealed, it's still the hoops but you have the usual gnashing & wailing of teeth.

Review

(Chris McLaughlin of BBC)
A massively entertaining game at Easter Rd. #Hibs did everything #Rangers failed to do last week against #Celtic. They fought, believed and played at a high tempo. Few better sides to watch in Scotland right now than Hibs in full flow.

Neil Lennon:
Lenny “I had several bottles of champagne on ice to share with Brendan at full time. Brendan told me just before kick off to keep them for next weekend and we’ll have a party in Paradise. He’s a great man is Brendan”.

(Mikebhoyy67 of KDS)
That was dreadful. Chased all over the park. Lenny got his tactics spot on, including man marking Forrest.

It concerns me that some of the players have recently been saying, “we know when we turn up that no one can touch us”. We are going to come unstuck in a big game if we have that mentality.
Yesterday we looked out on our feet from early on.

As an aside, whilst there were some poor individual performances, some of the utter rubbish coming from our own fans towards our own players was embarrassing.

(Hellas67 of KDS)
Every single player out there today should have a long hard look at themselves after that performance, we never looked like winning that game at all and we created the square root of hee haw all day!

Hibs were up for it whilst once again we went out on the pitch expecting the opposition to be feart of us. I reckon we played with 9 men the whole game as Rogic and Ntcham were posted missing in the first half and then Rogic and Sinclair the second, how Tam lasted the full game I don't know!

Thought Ajer and Hendry looked our most attack minded players when bursting out of defence but they could only go so far with the ball as no one else was showing for it ffs.

I don't know perhaps the players and manager, despite all their talk this week, actually do want to wrap the league up against Sevco, but if that is the case then we have to do far far better than that pish today!

In saying all of that Hibs were very very good today and Lennon has them going places, they have given us our most difficult games this season and their midfield looks better balanced than ours, they might not have the players that would get into our team but they are a team whilst our players far too often this season haven't resembled a team in the real sense of the word.

As bad as a performance we have put in all season on a day that we could have been celebrating 7-in-a-row…Get it sorted Brendan please as it was obvious we were being bossed in midfield but all the subs were in attack and tbh none of them done anything when they came on (yeah I know Eduoard got the goal).

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Hibernian
Celtic

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Home44%
Away56%

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Home13
Away13

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Home5
Away4

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Away3

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Articles

Hibs 2 – 1 Celtic: Neil Lennon’s side delay Celtic’s title triumph

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/hibs-2-1-celtic-neil-lennon-s-side-delay-celtic-s-title-triumph-1-4728157
A team in green and white on a mission to complete a phenomenal season. It’s not often such a tagline could relegate Celtic to secondary status. Hibernian, though, did that in swashbuckling fashion as they lanced the prospects of a title party for Brendan Rodgers’ side at Easter Road. Neil Lennon’s men were dashing, daring and driven as they claimed a victory that their efforts over the season against the champions-elect have warranted. To see Celtic as vulnerable and diminished as they were at times yesterday – in such contrast to their lording it against Rangers the previous weekend – could make you wonder why more teams do not play with such intent and intensity against them.
The fact is, though, that few Scottish teams can muster the sort of musketeers from within their ranks that the Leith club can let loose on Celtic. With such as Dylan McGeouch and John McGinn carrying the charge, Hibs bow to no opponent over a willingness to push on to the front foot and force play. Lennon asked that of all his men yesterday, and got it, with interest, to unnerve visitors reduced to an unaccustomed domestic passivity.

The victory, which follows two thrilling draws against Rodgers’ men and extends Hibs’ recent run to one defeat in 16 games, is precisely why they now have every chance of edging out Rangers and Aberdeen for second place. These clubs have to visit both Easter Road and Celtic Park during their final four fixtures. The remarkable achievement of claiming runners-up in the top flight to which they have just returned is firmly within their grasp.

They were ravenous in their pursuit of such a scenario against a Celtic team who could now be afforded the opportunity to confirm their seventh straight title at home to Rangers next Sunday. Indeed, Hibs’ ability to bring Rodgers’ team to heel was all the more creditable because they did so without on-loan Celtic midfielder Scott Allan and the injured Darren McGregor, two players pivotal in their push for a final placing that would have seemed fanciful when the campaign began last August.
The tone for the afternoon was set inside only three minutes when McGeouch intercepted a Tom Rogic pass and released Florian Kamberi, who found his way through gaps left at the back by central defensive pairing Dedryck Boyata and Kristoffer Ajer. Craig Gordon was equal to the low effort of the Swiss striker but Hibs had signalled their thrusting approach.
Lennon said afterwards this revolved around preventing Scott Brown “dictating play”, as he had in the 4-0 semi-final win over Rangers, through getting “in his face” to “take the ball off him” and “pressing aggressively within the laws of the game”.
Their ability to unsettle Celtic with this strategy was epitomised in the 24th-minute opener. A weak clearing header by Rogic was seized upon by McGinn, who zipped the ball forward to Lewis Stevenson on the left. With Celtic’s rearguard caught out of position, the full-back fired over a low cross that Jamie Maclaren was able to knock in from barely two yards with no opponent within challenging distance of him.

Gordon had to produce a couple of decent blocks, as did Ofir Marciano in the home goal, before Hibs struck the decisive blow with ten minutes of regulation time remaining. Again, Celtic comprehensively failed to deal with a quick-fire cross delivered into their box, this time from the boot of Kamberi positioned wide on the right. This was met by the header of substitute Vykintas Slivka, who glanced the ball in from close range.
In that instant Celtic’s hopes of securing the three points that would take them over the Premiership finish line evaporated but they produced a valiant late rally in their bid to avoid their third domestic defeat of the season. In the 87th minute they succeeded in reducing the deficit when substitutes Scott Sinclair and Odsonne Eduoard combined to allow the Frenchman to dart through on goal and produce a slick finish but Celtic never looked like crafting a second to deny Hibs their deserved spoils from a pulsating afternoon.

BBC

By Chris McLaughlin

BBC Scotland at Easter Road

From the section Scottish Premiership 219

Hibs striker Jamie Maclaren scores against Celtic
Hibs striker Jamie Maclaren opened the scoring against Celtic with a close-range finish

Celtic missed the chance to seal the Premiership title after defeat by a high-tempo, assertive Hibernian side.

They went into the game needing to win to secure their seventh consecutive title, but will have to wait to be confirmed champions.

Jamie Maclaren opened the scoring for Hibs in the first half and Vykintas Slivka headed in after the break.

Kristoffer Ajer cleared off Celtic's goal-line before Odsonne Edouard scored a late consolation.

The best team won – Celtic boss Rodgers

The victory was Hibs' first over Celtic since December 2012, and the third time that Brendan Rodgers' side have lost in the league this season.

The visitors were overwhelmed at Easter Road, as the Hibs players swarmed all over the pitch to take command.
Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard scores against Hibs
Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard came off the bench to score a late consolation goal

Everything before the game screamed "party", but from the second the match got under way it was clear Hibs had very different ideas.

Neil Lennon's side were everything that Rangers failed to be against the champions at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final last weekend. They were full of fight. They were full of belief and they took the game to their visitors in a thoroughly entertaining game in the Leith sunshine.

Celtic by no means had an off day. Tom Rogic and Leigh Griffiths both had early efforts but Ofir Marciano in the Hibs goal, like the rest of his team-mates, looked very much in the mood and denied them.

Once again, the Hibs midfield was critical to all that was good about the home side. Central to that, like so often this season, was John McGinn.

Midway through the first half, he fought hard and won the ball, then fed it to Lewis Stevenson. The full-back scampered down the left before sweeping an exquisite delivery across the face of the goal for Maclaren to convert from close range. It was no more than the home side deserved and Celtic were completely rocked back on their heels.
Hibs midfielder John McGinn and Celtic captain Scott Brown
Hibernian midfielder John McGinn was a pivotal figure for the home side with his energy and dynamism

Hibernian continued to dominate – with Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon having to move smartly to prevent Dedryck Boyata scoring an own goal then clutching a Danny Swanson volley – but after the interval Rodgers replaced midfielder Olivier Ntcham with winger Scott Sinclair, and the champions elect started to find more space.

Once again, Marciano was called into action and once again it was Rogic with the shot. The Australian international should have scored from eight yards, but the Hibs No 1 spread himself wide to block.

After weathering some Celtic pressure, though, the home side started to fight back and reassert their dominance.

Substitute Brandon Barker skipped and jinked his way through the Celtic midfield but his shot flew just wide. Minutes later, Maclaren did similar as Hibs once again poured forward in numbers. It was utterly enthralling.
Hibs midfielders Martin Boyle and Vykintas Slivka
Hibs substitute Vykintas Slivka, right, scored his side's second goal with a header

Celtic tried everything as the prospect of a title party started to slip away, but as they pushed forward Hibs grabbed their second and effectively secured the win.

Winger Martin Boyle pushed the ball forward on the right and Florian Kamberi gathered, crossed and there was substitute Slivka to head home. It was another thing of beauty.

Edouard gave the visitors some hope with a consolation goal with three minutes remaining but despite a nervy finish, it was never going to be enough.

Celtic's title celebrations will have to wait and a mouth-watering Old Firm match awaits next weekend.

But at Easter Road it was all about a Hibs side who are pushing hard for second place. If they perform in the remainder of their games like they did in this one, Aberdeen and Rangers should be very concerned.