Hibs 0 - 2 Celtic: Stokes returns to haunt Hibs

Anthony Stokes came back to haunt Hibs once again as the Celtic striker took advantage of a dreadful blunder by former Easter Road team-mate Graham Stack to set the Glasgow side on the road to victory.

• Celebrating his and Celtic's opener - Anthony Stokes

Stokes was on hand to loft the ball into the net from a tight angle after the goalkeeper had come and failed to hold Kris Commons free-kick, a cruel blow for Colin Calderwood's side who had given as good as they had got up until that point.

Sung Yueng Ki drilled home a second for Celtic in the 63rd minute before Stack pulled off a stunning spot-kick save to prevent Gary Hooper making it three following Ivan Sproule's trip on Emilio Izaguirre.

Hibs would just have been congratulating themselves on the promising start they had made when they were stunned as Celtic took the lead from what was virtually their first threat on the home goal.

But again the wound was very much self-inflicted, Stack failing to hold Commons' free-kick from the right touchline when he might have elected to punch.

Stokes was lurking beyond the far post and had time to swivel and lash a rising shot high into the net from a tight angle. Stack was left complaining he'd been the victim of a nudge but while he was certainly under pressure from two Celtic players referee Iain Brines saw nothing wrong.

Mark Wilson thought he'd made it two for the Hoops in the 20th minute but was rather harshly adjudged offside while Hibs, for their part, hadn't let that setback get them down., David Wotherspoon delivering a great cross which was just too high for the impressive Matt Thornhill before Ivan Sproule sent a low ball across goal only to see it elude Wotherspoon's run.

Other than Stack's error there had been nothing between the sides in that first half and Hibs went looking for an equaliser on the restart, Callum Booth's through ball allowing Sproule to stretch his legs.

But Kelvin Wilson and Izaguirre just managed to stop the Northern Ireland winger enjoying a dream return to Easter Road.

Hibs, however, were dealt a blow on the hour mark as Sean O'Hanlon's SPL debut came to a premature end, the centre half appearing to have gone over on an ankle as he was replaced by David Stephens.

The substitute hadn't enjoyed a touch of the ball before Stokes turned supplier, edging the ball out for Ki who wasted no time in drilling a low shot from 20 yards beyond the despairing dive of Stack.

That goal came in the 63rd minute and four minutes later the game looked to be all over as far as Hibs were concerned when the backtracking Sproule took the legs of Izaguirre inches inside the penalty area, referee Iain Brines having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

But Stack made amends somewhat for his earlier mistake with a stunning save, guessing correctly as he dived to his right to push Gary Hooper's effort from 12 yards onto the post before the Celtic striker knocked the rebound wide.

Hibs: Stack, Palsson, O'Hanlon (Stephens 60), Hanlon, Booth, Murray (Crawford 85), Stevenson (Galbraith 70), Sproule, Thornhill, Wotherspoon, O'Connor. Subs not used: Brown, Scott, Stephens, De Graaf.

Celtic: Zaluska, M Wilson, Loovens, K Wilson, Izaguirre, Commons (Forrest 60), Ki, Kayal, Ledley, Stokes (Samaras 79), Hooper (Maloney 85). Subs not used: Cervi, Matthews, Mulgrew, Wanyama.

Referee: Iain Brines.