Celtic 4 Hibernian 2: Hoops prove too strong for plucky Hibs

Published on Saturday 25 October 2008 17:00

Celtic 3, Hibernian 2 Scorers: Celtic (McManus 33) (Sheridan 36) (Loovens 80), (Brown87), Hibernian (Nish 43), (Fletcher 50)

GOALS from Colin Nish and Steven Fletcher were not enough for a battling Hibs side as they went down 4-2 at Parkhead.

The home team had raced into a two-goal lead in the first half thanks to strikes from Stephen McManus and Cillian Sheridan.

Hibs had staged a comeback with those goals of their own either side of the half-time break but Gordon Strachan's side refused to relinquish the points and late hits from Glenn Loovens and Scott Brown earned them a hard-fought victory.

Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen had Chris Hogg back in his squad after problems with headaches and blurred vision, although the defender started on the bench.

It was Derek Riordan's first game at Parkhead since his summer switch back to Celtic and he was given an early chance to make an impression with a free-kick from 30 yards out, but Celtic keeper Artur Brouc got down to his left quickly to smother the low effort.

The visitors had another chance when John Rakin picked up from Riordan and whipped the ball deep across the box for Nish at the back post but the big striker got the ball caught under his feet and that allowed Barry Robson to clear Celtic's lines.

Riordan then held the ball up and picked out Dean Shiels to his right and the Irishman in turn fed Nish, who by now had raced out wide right. His cross into the danger area was meant for Fletcher but Boruc cut it out at his near post.

The swirling wind and driving rain were causing problems for both sides and Scott McDonald tried to test Yves Ma-Kalambay in the conditions, only to pull his shot wide of the keeper's right-hand post.

Riordan came even closer to the opener in 23 minutes when he pounced on a loose ball and spun to send a curling effort towards goal but again Boruc thwarted him, getting down like lightning to turn the shot round the base of his left post with one hand.

At the other end Hibs gave away a free-kick when Sol Bamba brought McDonald down right on the edge of the box but Paul Hartley couldn't make the dead ball count, firing the award straight into the arms of Ma-Kalambay.

Despite their chances though, it was Celtic who took the lead after 33 minutes when a corner from Shunsuke Nakamura was helped on by Rankin and Stephen McManus blasted the ball beyond the diving Ma-Kalambay and into the net.

They doubled their advantage just a couple of minutes later when McManus picked out McDonald and the little Australian played a perfectly weighted ball through for Sheridan who capitalised on the fact that Ma-Kalambay had come rushing out of his goal, by taking the ball beyond the big Belgian and slotting home on an angle into the now empty net.

Hibs pulled one back before half-timeand they did it in spectacular fashion when Fletcher picked up possession on the right and cut in just a few paces before unleashing a wicked shot with his left foot that looked to have taken a touch off the head of Nish and completely caught Boruc unawares, fizzing into the net.

Hibs levelled within five minutes of the restart when Ian Murray helped Bamba out in the middle of the park. The former Rangers man fed Nish on the right flank and he whipped a cracking vball across the face of goal for Fletcher, who had hared in at the far post to take a touch and slam it into the net.

Celtic could have added a third when Nakamura picked out McDonald only for Ma-Kalambay to get a great touch on it to concede a corner that came to nothing.

Celtic moved back in front ten minutes from time when Glenn Loovens rose to power a header into the net from Shaun Maloney's corner from the keeper's right.

They wrapped up the points as time ticked away and it was a former Hibs player who did the damage, picking up with his right and lashing home with his left foot.

Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus (Loovens 46), Nakamura (McGeady 60), Brown, *Hartley (Hartley for getting involved with Shiels), Robson, Maloney, Sheridan, *McDonald (70 for a foul on van Zanten)(McCourt 88). Unused subs: Brown, Donati, O'Dea, McGowan.

Hibernian: Ma-Kalambay, Van Zanten, Jones, Murray, Fletcher,Nish, Stevenson, Rankin, *Shiels (87 for getting involved with Hartley), Bamba, *Riordan 72 for a foul on Maloney. Unused subs: McNeil, Hogg, Yantorno, Keenan, Thicot, Chisholm, Pinau.

Referee@ Calum Murray

Attendance: 58,337