Celtic 2 - 1 Hibernian: No argument that Celtic have winning in their blood

This was by no means their most impressive victory, and against a side with a bigger physical presence up front their narrow lead could have been under serious threat. But it was solid enough, and there was always more likelihood of a third goal for the home team than a second for Hibernian.

The main disappointment of the match, for the Celtic support and for neutrals alike, was that they failed to build on their early lead. The ease with which Scott Brown played a one-two with Anthony Stokes then shot home from the edge of the box was ominous for Hibs, and briefly promised an afternoon rich in attacking football. Instead, that advantage, and Hibs' inability to raise the tempo, allowed Lennon's team to drift through the rest of the first half, just as the visitors' five-man midfield had permitted Brown to float through their midst before dispatching the ball into the net. With Colin Nish injured, Derek Riordan was asked to play as a sole target man to allow Hibs to have that advantage in the middle. Given the way they failed to staunch Celtic's flow in those central areas, however, they would have been better fielding a 4-4-2 formation which would at least have caused more trouble for the home defence. Instead, the only real difficulty for that back four in the opening 45 minutes was the hamstring strain which prevented Charlie Mulgrew from reappearing for the second half. Ki Sung Yeung came on in midfield for the defender, with Joe Ledley slipping into the back four.

The Welshman looked uncomfortable on several occasions in that unfamiliar position, but before Hibs could expose his uncertainty they found themselves two goals down thanks in large part to some insecure defending of their own. When Shaun Maloney delivered a corner from the right, Glenn Loovens was allowed too much space, and his header had crossed the line by the time John Rankin hooked it clear.

"It was at least a yard over," the Hibs player said later. "Definitely over the line."

Apparently doomed to defeat by that strike, Hibs were back in the contest a few minutes later thanks to an exquisite goal from Derek Riordan. Hovering on the edge of the box and seeming to wait for support to arrive, the former Celtic player spied Fraser Forster a yard or two off his line, and chipped a perfectly angled diagonal over the goalkeeper's head and into the far corner of the net.Hibs' one real chance to equalise fell to the same player some time later, but on this occasion Riordan failed to connect properly and his volley spun wide. Just before that incident, the impressive Efrain Juarez had seen a header come back off the bar, while both before and after it substitute Georgios Samaras had several chances to wrap up the points. Inability to score a third made for an edgy end to the game for Celtic, while Hibs showed a commendable commitment to the cause. The argument which raged in their dressing-room after the midweek defeat by Kilmarnock might have given the impression of a squad at war with one another, but Rankin insisted that the dissent proved they were positively motivated.

"When you get beat there's always raised voices," he said. "There's always going to be arguments and it shows that we care. We need to show it on the pitch now rather than in the dressing-room. But it shows there are characters in that dressing-room and we want to win and have the desire to do so.

"We've got an opinionated dressing-room. We've got certain boys with beliefs in how football should be played, and we all disagreed at certain things. But whose opinion's right?

"A few people have said do you think you need to win ugly to get back on track? I don't think we do. You saw the spirit today amongst the boys. They're right behind the gaffer in everything that he does. It's been difficult. But the way we're playing I'm sure we'll come up with a win at some point."

Of course they will at some point, just as Celtic will suffer a defeat. But in both cases, the relevant question is when?