Celtic, under former Hibs manager Neil Lennon, are the only team to have beaten Hibernian under Paul Heckingbottom since the Yorkshireman’s appointment at Easter Road. The Hoops may have knocked the Hibees out of the Scottish Cup but their league meeting on Sunday saw the sides battle out a 0-0 draw with the home side perhaps feeling a little bit hard done by.
Change in approach, change in result
The cup meeting saw Hibs opt to sit off their superior opponents and that day they were punished for it. Give good players space to work in and it’s only a matter of time before they, more often than not, break you down.
This time they were a bit more aggressive against a decent Celtic team. Hibs looked back to their best in looking to play on the front foot. They went toe-to-toe with the impending champions, not afraid to get bodies forward to hurt Celtic themselves.
Daryl Horgan was, as he so often is, the primary architect of opportunities with the best falling to Oli Shaw. Rather than opt to open up his body and slot past Bain, he instead looked for a cut back to an arriving teammate.
Marciano’s Hibs’ main man
Ofir Marciano was Hibs’ catalyst, keeping his side in the game with many key saves. Whilst you could claim that some are perhaps over dramatic and for show, there’s no doubting his goalkeeping talent. One of the best keepers down Leith way in quite some time. The standout save being a one-on-one from Celtic’s record signing, the £9 million Odsonne Edouard.
Whilst Hibs were excellent, the only frustration was probably that they couldn’t turn one point into all three. Despite the stalemate, there’s plenty of positives for Hibs to take ahead of Sunday’s final Edinburgh derby of the season at Easter Road.