Celtic’s game against Hibernian on Monday night was dominated beforehand by the news that many of the Celtic players and management would be unavailable for the game as they were having to self-isolate.
However, there was another story in the game that was overlooked and perhaps shouldn’t have been. That was the fact that former Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Macey made his debut in goals for Hibernian.
Could have been baptism of fire
Macey’s debut could have been a real baptism of fire. Despite having so many players out Celtic still fielded a strong side. Hibernian were going into the game on the back of three successive league defeats.
However, Macey handled what could have been a difficult situation well, in the game which ended 1-1. Some of his saves in the first-half in particular were excellent.
He will have been disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet, but David Turnbull’s free-kick was a good finish. Still, Macey showed enough in his performance that he will provide good competition to Ofir Marciano.
Jack Ross should have no qualms about starting Macey against Kilmarnock on Saturday if that needs to happen. Macey has already shown that he can handle the pressure of playing for Hibernian after only one game.
Some Hibernian fans on social media were impressed with the player’s debut.
‘Solid’ performance
One common word that was used was ‘solid’. That is what a team wants when they sign a goalkeeper that might not play every week.
Here are some of the best reactions from social media to Macey’s Hibernian debut.