CELTIC stretched their lead over Aberdeen at the top of the William Hill Premiership table to nine points at Parkhead this afternoon and ensured they will head to Croatia for their important Champions League meeting with Dinamo Zagreb next week with confidence high.
The Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning during the build-up to the William Hill Premiership match but the heavy rain they had forecast failed to materialise in the East End of Glasgow.
Brendan Rodgers’ men took advantage of the conditions and breezed to their seventh consecutive league triumph thanks to an early Arne Engels strike, a second half Joe Newell own goal and a late Kyogo Furuhashi effort.
David Gray’s charges had their moments – but they lacked composure in the final third and dropped below their city rivals Hearts to the bottom of the table once again as a result of the defeat.
Here are five talking points from the encounter.
Kasper class
Celtic fans were a little apprehensive when Joe Hart retired from football and departed in the summer – and with good reason.
Goalkeeper had very much been a problem position for them before former England internationalist Hart had arrived at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
The doom mongers need not, though, have been concerned. Kasper Schmeichel has successfully filled the void which his predecessor left and then some.
The experienced Dane was called upon to make a save in the very first minute today when Mykola Kukharevych sprang the offside trap and broke through on his goal – but he duly denied the Ukrainian striker with his outstretched leg.
He then saved a Nicky Cadden attempt from the edge of the area, dealt with a weak Elie Youan effort and diverted another Kukharevych wide for a corner. In the second half he did well to block shots from Youan and Cadden in rapid succession and block a Lewis Miller header.
He more than earned his win bonus and was a deserved recipient of the Man of the Match award at the end of the 90 minutes.
Hark the recalled Engels sings
Engels, who had been left on the bench for the Premiership match against second-placed Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday night, was given the chance to show he deserves to be in the Celtic starting line-up on a regular basis this afternoon.
The Belgian internationalist, a record £11m acquisition from Augsburg on the final day of the transfer window back in August, did his cause no harm whatsoever with a much-improved personal display alongside Luke McCowan and Callum McGregor.
He opened the scoring in the sixth minute when he chipped over Jordan Smith after being supplied by Alastair Johnston and performed well thereafter. He linked well with his team mates, went close to adding another goal on a couple of occasions and played some excellent deliveries into the Hibs area.
It is worth remembering the midfielder is, despite his price tag, still just 21. He will need a little time to establish himself in this country and show why it required an eight figure fee to secure his services.
However, he showed glimpses of his undoubted quality today and received warm applause when he was replaced by Hatate in the 73rd minute.
Toothless Hibs
Switching from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 3-4-1-2 set-up after the 4-1 defeat to Dundee at Dens Park last month had the desired effect for Hibs manager Gray – his side promptly drew 3-3 with Aberdeen at Easter Road and then romped to a 3-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.
The new system morphed into a 5-3-2 when the away side had possession and a 5-4-1 when they were without it at Parkhead this afternoon.
But their shape allowed them to compete, to both contain and threaten their rivals, for long periods. They would have given their opponents a far more difficult afternoon if they had taken their chances.
Kukharevych only had Schmeichel to beat on two occasions before he limped off injured and was replaced by Josh Campbell. Newell also fired over the crossbar after he had been teed up in a dangerous position by Miller.
Hibs paid the price for their failure to capitalise on their opportunities up front.
CCV missed
Rodgers made no fewer than five changes to his Celtic team – Liam Scales, Greg Taylor, Engels, McCowan and Adam Idah came in as Cameron Carter-Vickers, Alex Valle, Reo Hatate, Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi dropped out.
They duly picked up another three points with the minimum of fuss. The margin of victory would have been greater had Smith not saved well from Idah, Engels, Scales and Auston Trusty and had McCowan not struck the crossbar.
The victory was inevitable when Newell turned an Idah header into his own net at a McCowan corner nine minutes into the second half.
But centre half Carter-Vickers was definitely missed. Celtic, who had Trusty and Scales in the heart of their rearguard, were cut open far too easily and far too frequently for their supporters’ liking.
Poor pyro show
The strobe pyrotechnic which a member of the Bhoys Celtic ultra group foolishly set off before kick-off does not augur well for the Parkhead club’s trip to Croatia next week.
Celtic received a suspended one match away fan ban from UEFA back in October as punishment for a flare display in their Champions League meeting with Borussia Dortmund in Germany at the start of that month.
If there is a repeat of that behaviour in the league phase match against Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night their supporters may not be able to attend the encounter against Aston Villa in England next month.
It will only take one offender to spoil things.
