On an afternoon that ended with thousands belting out Sunshine On Leith amid scenes of high emotion, Hibs turned in a near note-perfect performance for embattled gaffer Lee Johnson.
But rookie Hearts boss Steven Naismith left Easter Road knowing that his team will need more than just a bit of fine tuning before the final curtain falls on this Scottish Premiership season. Or he definitely won’t be getting invited back for an encore.
If it hardly takes a degree in analytics to spot that Hibs had all the virtuoso performers on the pitch in Saturday’s Edinburgh derby, at least some credit must go to the conductor who pulled the whole performance together. By shutting off the most obvious threats posed by the visitors, and using his own key weapons to exploit open spaces in behind a high Hearts defensive line, Johnson gave his players the platform to put on a show.
