Hibs-Celtic Reaction - O'Riley drought, return of lost Hibs hero and in praise of Ryan Porteous

Celtic maintained their nine-point lead at the top of the Premiership with a dominant 4-0 win over Hibs at Easter Road. Aaron Mooy scored a double, his first goals for the club. Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi were also on the scoresheet. Both teams now face hugely significant derbies on Monday.

Former Hibs striker David Zitelli applauds the crowd before last night's match against Celtic at Easter Road (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

O'Riley worth a flutter

Aaron Mooy getting off the mark for Celtic put one of his teammate’s struggles to score his first goal of the season into sharper focus. Surprisingly, fellow midfielder Matt O’Riley has still to find the net this season. The spell he spent playing in a slightly deeper position covering for the injured Callum McGregor might partly account for this.

Some might regard O’Riley as not necessarily the type of player who will get into double figures from midfield. But he did score four times for Celtic in half a season after signing last January from MK Dons, where he had already scored seven times in the first part of the campaign.

He was only a one-handed diving save from David Marshall away from joining Mooy on the scoresheet at Easter Road so it’s undoubtedly only a matter of time. Perhaps he’s worth a flutter to be among the goals at Ibrox on Monday? He’s certainly due a goal. Not that it’s harming Celtic’s prospects. They’ve just scored four goals in successive games and are firing them in from all angles.

Return of David Zitelli

David Zitelli made a long overdue return to Easter Road for the game last night. The striker, who scored 13 goals in 64 appearances for Hibs, looked well and was back at the stadium for the first time in 20 years. He was interviewed on the pitch and reflected on his “fantastic” two years at the club. He and Hibs parted company after Bobby Williamson took over in February 2002.

Zitelli’s time at Easter was brief but memorable and is recalled for some stunning goals, including an overhead kick at Dens Park v Dundee – Claudio Caniggia et al – in a 2-1 win in November 2000. He was also on the mark in the 6-2 win over Hearts the previous month. Suffice to say Hibs could do with some of the French striker’s inspiration at present.

If it is goodbye, Ryan...

Well, it’s almost the end of quite a year for Ryan Porteous. He’s certainly already played his last competitive football match of 2022. Whether he plays another one for Hibs is a moot question. He didn’t seek to stem the speculation linking him with a move from Easter Road in the next transfer window by the way he seemed to take a deliberately long time to leave the pitch while applauding the fans after the 4-0 defeat to Celtic.

Manager Lee Johnson later admitted the player might know more than he does with regards his imminent future. But whatever happens, Porteous can certainly look back at an eventful year when he clinks glasses on Hogmanay. He can perhaps be permitted a drink or two seeing as he’s suspended for the Hearts game at Tynecastle on Monday and it’s not at all certain he will be a Hibs player by the time they play Motherwell next Sunday.

In the last 12 months, Porteous has become a Scotland international and become a target for a number of English clubs - the 23-year-old has already admitted that he wants to test himself in a “different league”. He also riled Jim Goodwin to the extent that the Aberdeen manager copped an eight-match ban for calling the player a “cheat”, although that was later reduced to just one game - with two suspended.

Not only this, but who would have thought Porteous would have ended 2022 reinvented as a midfielder? It’s been a crazy time. If we have just seen his farewell to Scottish football, then it’s worth saluting him. It’s rarely been boring, Ryan.