Hibs 1 Celtic 2

We fell to a 2-1 defeat to Celtic on Sunday despite a courageous effort that saw us play with ten men for more than 70 minutes.

Jamie McGrath’s 21st-minute red card left us with an uphill task, but the players once again gave their all in a back-to-the-wall defensive showing.

Daizen Maeda gave Celtic the lead shortly before the break, only for Joe Newell to haul us level in first-half stoppage time.

Time and again the boys put their bodies on the line to thwart Celtic, that was until substitute Kelechi Iheanacho struck late on to put the visitors ahead. 

We could’ve taken something from the game, with substitute Ante Šuto going close to a dramatic late leveller, but it wasn’t to be, as Celtic took all three points. 

Remarkably, in the third minute of time added, and against the run of play, we levelled the match. Nicky Cadden’s floated free-kick caused panic in the away defence, and goalkeeper Viljamii Sinisalo weakly punched clear under pressure from Rocky Bushiri, and Newell volleyed it home from close range.

David Gray made four changes to the side that faced rivals Hearts last weekend. With Raphael Sallinger and Felix Passlack both suspended, their places in the side were taken by Jordan Smith and Kanayo Megwa.

The other changes saw skipper Newell and Jack Iredale restored to the starting XI at the expense of Dan Barlaser and Jordan Obita, who both dropped to the bench.

The game started tamely with only long-distance efforts from Liam Scales and Maeda to note, with each sailing high over the crossbar. Then, on 14 minutes, there was a VAR check for a Celtic penalty after Smith saved at the feet of Maeda.

On this occasion the check went in our favour, but seven minutes later another VAR intervention ended with us being reduced to ten men following McGrath’s challenge on Alistair Johnston.

Referee David Dickinson had initially brandished a yellow card to the Irish midfielder, but after being brought to the screen to review the tackle again, it was upgraded to a red card.

Celtic would dominate possession and create a host of scoring opportunities in the first half. First, Maeda was sent through on goal, only to drag his shot wide of the far post, before Benjamin Nygren’s low strike three minutes later was pushed away by the diving Smith.

For all their dominance, Celtic struggled to create any real gilt-edged opportunities, with Callum McGregor having a shot blocked on the edge of our box, Johnston shooting wide and Auston Trusty tamely firing straight at Smith from 30 yards.

That is until four minutes before half-time when Johnston played a clever one-two with Hyunjun Yang to get in behind our defence on our left, and from his cutback, Maeda slotted it away.

Initially given as offside, VAR once more stepped in to overrule the on-field decision as Celtic had the breakthrough.

Gray opted to bring on fresh legs at the interval, with Josh Campbell and Obita introduced for Martin Boyle and Nicky Cadden.

The second-half would follow a similar vein to the first, with Celtic enjoying large spells of the ball and efforts without really appearing likely to score. 

Smith gathered a tame effort from McGregor before Kieran Tierney dragged his shot wide as Celtic continued to toil.

There were then shouts from the visitors for a spot-kick as Nygren went down under a challenge from Campbell inside the box, but nothing was given and play went on.

A low pile driver from Tierney stung the palms of Smith before Celtic restored their lead with only 18 minutes remaining.

A corner kick from the right was glanced on by Tierney, and substitute Iheanacho finished clinically, bringing the ball down on his chest before firing past Smith.

We brought on Šuto and Dane Scarlett for the closing stages, and the pair combined on 82 minutes to create a shooting opportunity that failed to trouble Sinisalo.

The pair combined again with only one minute of regulation time remaining as Šuto latched onto Scarlett’s knockdown, and his shot on the turn flashed just wide of Sinisalo’s near post.

That proved to be the final action of note in a game where we once again produced a strong defensive showing with ten men before being undone in the closing stages.