Kujabi’s Hibs romped at home by Celtic
- Tuesday, 21 February 2012
- Written by Modou Lamin Beyai
In a forgettable and horribly uncomfortable match, Pa Saikou Kujabi’s Hibernian were overpowered by an in-form Celtic team who chalked up a heavy and convincing win at Easter Road.
From the outset, Celtic were superior and that gulf showed in the final scoreline. There were flashes of encouragement from Hibs, but overall it was not good enough to halt the progress of Celtic.
Hibs conceded two avoidable goals inside the opening 21 minutes with Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper scoring for Celtic in a difficult and challenging first half. Then a minute into the second half Charlie Mulgrew scored from a free kick to give Celtic a three-goal advantage while Hooper made it four a few minutes later.
A deflected shot off Sung-Yong Ki went past Graham Stack to compound Hibernian's misery in a painful afternoon. Hibernian welcomed back Leigh Griffiths, Paul Hanlon and Captain James McPake from suspension.
High flying Celtic, buoyed by a boisterous away support, was quick out of the traps and unlucky not to take the lead inside the opening 15 seconds of the match. Matthew Doherty was sloppy in possession allowing Anthony Stokes in behind the Hibs defence on the left, his low cross was flicked on cleverly by Hooper and only the instinctive reactions of Graham Stack prevented the ball finding the back of the net.
The visitors didn’t have long to wait before finding the opening goal however and for the fourth match in succession between the teams at Easter Road it came from former Hibee Stokes.
The striker’s 18th of the season was one of his easiest, after nodding into the net from close range following Charles Mulgrew’s corner kick.
It was soon 2-0 and this time Stokes was the provider, slipping the ball through to Hooper who fired and angled drive into the net as Hibs were hit by a clinical counter-attack. Pat Fenlon’s men could feel hard done by after finding themselves two goals down with less than 20 minutes played, after a fairly bright start. They should have pulled a goal back when Lewis Stevenson outmuscled Adam Matthews on the edge of the Celtic penalty area, but left with only Fraser Forster to beat, he tamely shot straight at the towering goalkeeper.
Moments later David Wotherspoon miscued a shot from close range before Isaiah Osbourne headed just wide from Griffiths’ delivery as Hibs refused to let their heads drop. Hibs were made to play out the closing moments of the first half with only ten men after Doherty appeared to be caught by the elbow of Stokes and had to leave the field for treatment.
The on loan defender failed to return for the second period and there was further bad news for the home side as Celtic extended their lead in the opening minutes. Hanlon was left furious after he was harshly penalised on the edge of the Hibs penalty area for a trip on Hooper but there was no denying the quality of the finish from Mulgrew.
Neil Lennon’s men were in rampant form and it took a terrific stop from Stack to prevent Stokes scoring from Hooper's clever back-heel. Unfortunately the Hibs goalkeeper was caught out moments later by Hooper’s opportunistic strike on 52 minutes as Celtic grabbed a fourth goal.
With the outcome of the match truly settled before two-thirds had been played the tempo understandably dropped however Celtic remained comfortable.
Substitute Garry O’Connor tried to reduce the deficit with a free kick moments after coming on and whilst he managed to lift the ball over the defensive wall it fell the wrong side of the post.
All the luck was with Celtic and this was highlighted in the 76th minute when Stokes wayward shot struck the unaware Ki and entered the Hibs net.
The Edinburgh side looked a disheveled lot as Celtic almost scored a sixth when Joe Ledley’s header struck the underside of the crossbar.
The defeat leaves Pa Saikou’s Hibs lying 11 in the 12-team-table with 19 points and up next for them is an away game to Motherwell.