Hibernian came from a goal down at the Tony Macaroni Arena to secure a 4-1 win over Livingston that strengthens the Leith outfit’s grip on fourth.
Joel Nouble opened the scoring early on in West Lothian before two first-half goals from Elie Youan turned the game on its head. Jack Fitzwater’s red card shortly after the break left Livi with a mountain to climb before Chris Cadden and Mykola Kukharevych put the result beyond doubt.
Here are three talking points from an absorbing cinch Premiership encounter.
Enigmatic Nouble makes his mark
There is no one else quite like Nouble in the Premiership. The attacker’s hulking frame belies the technical ability he possesses and he is arguably the best player in the league when getting the ball under control under heavy pressure. He knows how to throw his weight around but it is often the 27-year-old’s tricky footwork that leaves opponents bamboozled.
Nouble was his usual enigmatic self against Hibernian. Playing out on the right wing, he gave his opposite number Marijan Cabraja a torrid time early on before fading a little, alternating between dribbling past the Hibs full-back and simply bustling straight through him with equal success. He opened the scoring when he latched onto a wonderful cross-field ball from Morgan Boyes, showing good technique to pluck it out the air, shimmy past his man and rifle the ball into the roof of the net.
It was a goal that demonstrated why Nouble is such a dangerous opponent, yet it his only his fifth in 26 appearances in all competitions this term. There was the occasional slack touch or careless pass too, where the forward meekly surrendered possession after doing the hard part, while a one-on-one towards the end of the first half resulted in the ball rolling timidly towards David Marshall in the visitors’ goal. He was good – and usually is – but it is hard to shake the feeling that he could be even better with just a little polishing.
Youan shifts the momentum
Speaking of players that can delight and frustrate in equal measure, Youan’s performance at the Tony Macaroni cannot pass without mention. Another rough diamond with bags of potential, it was the Frenchman who turned this contest on its head and handed his side the advantage.
The first came via a superbly-timed run that caught the Livingston defence napping. Youan had all the time in the world after springing forward but the 23-year-old kept his composure to drive at goal and slip the ball past Shamal George. That killer instinct was on show once again towards the end of the first half when a neat one-two between Matthew Hoppe created a sight of goal and Youan required no second invitation to curl the ball home.
On those occasions, Youan did well but there are times when the attacker has the ball at his feet where he simply needs to look up. He can suffer from tunnel vision at times, keeping his head down and running with the ball when shifting it onto a team-mate is the better option. At one point, he must have covered the best part of 100 yards as he dribbled with the ball, holding onto it for what felt like an eternity before gifting it away cheaply.
Marginal calls costly for Livi
VAR was called into action three times in this game and on each occasion the hosts found themselves on the wrong end of a tight call. The first was to check Youan’s opening goal was onside – the forward must have been on by the slimmest of margins – while the second came 10 minutes into the second half after Jack Fitzwater was dismissed for clipping Hoppe’s heels when the Hibs man was through on goal, effectively killing off any chance of a comeback. Kukharevych then scored at the death to rub further salt in Livi's wounds and although the goal was initially chopped off for offside, VAR overturned the decision.
There can be few complaints about any of the calls but Davie Martindale could be forgiven for feeling a little rueful. A few inches here and there ultimately swung this match – and served as a reminder of the narrow margins that can prove decisive at this level.
