CELTIC 3 HIBS 0
CELTIC were made to fight all the way for a triumph over a determined Hibs who are fighting for their lives in the top flight.
There was no procession at Parkhead this afternoon and it took a neat sideflick from Arne Engels, a deflection from an Adam Idah effort off Joe Newell and a typical strike from Kyogo Furuhashi to make sure of the points.
Kasper Schmeichel had the opportunity to show why he has achieved legendary status in the game with a series of excellent saves to thwart an Edinburgh outfit desperate to get something from the contest.
And there was a special accolade for the Great Dane when the was awarded the Man of the Match honour!
It wasn’t to be, but David Gray’s men leave Paradise without a reward for their endeavours, but they deserved plaudits in making Brendan Rodgers’ men earn the victory.
However, the Hoops had a scare in the opening minutes when Schmeichel raced from his goal to block a drive from the totally unmarked Mykola Kukharevych who was left to run clear after Greg Taylor had surrendered possession in midfield.
The Danish international keeper maintained his concentration and his cool to divert the Ukrainian striker’s low drive with his left foot.
And Schmeichel was called into action again only moments later when he denied a 20-yard effort from Nicky Cadden.
Thankfully, the champions stirred themselves from their early lethargy to take the lead in the sixth minute.
NUMBER ONE…Arne Engels signals a crucial strike for the champions.
Dangerman Nicolas Kuhn once again was the architect as he provided a pass to the overlapping Alistair Johnston who sent over an inviting low cross from the right and £11million Bhoy Engels timed his run to perfection to find a pocket of space to whip a low shot wide of the stranded Jordan Smith from six yards.
The Hibs netminder was helpless again shortly afterwards as Daizen Maeda fired in a low ball from the left and Luke McCowan clipped the crossbar with a 12-yard drive.
Celtic had restored their composure after a slow start, but there was a reminder of their opponents’ intentions when Joe Newell was left with a shooting chance, but his delivery was way off target and the ball flew high off target.
As the interval neared, the hosts came close on two occasions when Maeda glanced a header just wide after superb service from Kuhn and then Smith denied Idah when the Republic of Ireland international striker’s snapshot from eight yards was beaten away by the keeper.
As the five minutes of stoppage-time ticked down, the Easter Road club’s No.1 got down smartly to push away a drive from Engels.
CHEERLEADER…Brendan Rodgers urges on his Celtic players.
Celtic brought on James Forrest for Kuhn after the interval and their second-half pressure paid off in the 54th minute when they doubled their advantage following a succession of corner-kicks.
The visitors were on the back-foot right from the restart as the champions upped the tempo to relieve some of the tension and the Edinburgh club’s stubborn survival act was obliterated when it looked as though captain Newell had been unfortunate in attempting to clear an effort from Idah.
The powerhouse hitman rose to deflect a McCowan corner across the box and the last touch came off the opposition midfielder.
There was a question mark if Idah’s effort was on target, but the main thing was that the hosts were 2-0 ahead and another three crucial points were remaining in Paradise.
Schmeichel was not exactly twiddling his thumbs with the all action at the other end and he produced a double save in quickfire fashion to repel Hibs.
In the 66th minute, Kyogo Furuhashi and Yang Hyun-jun were introduced as they took over from Idah and Maeda.
Seven minutes later, it was the turn of Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo to come off the bench as they replaced McCowan and Engels.
Kyogo made certain of the win with a trademark strike in the 84th minute when he accepted a pass from Forrest, took a magnificent first touch to fashion the opportunity and he scored with a fair degree of nonchalance.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Taylor; Engels (sub: Bernardo 73), McGregor, McCowan (sub: Hatate 73); Kuhn (sub: Forrest 46), Idah (sub: Kyogo 66), Maeda (sub: Yang 66).
