Defensive errors cost Hibs the chance to leapfrog Celtic into second place as Jack Ross’s men succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie tonight.
Head Coach Jack Ross made one change to the starting XI that lost to Hearts in last weekend’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final with Jamie Murphy replacing Kyle Magennis.
A minute silence was help before kick-off ahead of Remembrance Sunday and Hibs wore their third strip which contained the names of Hibernian Supporters members.
Aberdeen opened the scoring in the fourth minute after Murphy took too long to clear the ball and was robbed by Ryan Hedges inside the penalty area. Hedges then found Lewis Ferguson who slid the ball into the path of Scott Wright and the youngster calmly slotted the ball past Ofir Marciano into the bottom corner of the net.
Eight minutes later Hibs pressed the self-destruct button when Ryan Porteous attempted a diagonal pass which rebounded off the back of Wright, allowing Sam Cosgrove to race in on goal and fire the ball past Marciano with the outside of his foot.
Hibs best chance of the first half came in the 28th minute when Ash Taylor sliced Murphy’s cross as he attempted to clear the danger forcing keeper Joe Lewis to tip the ball over the bar.
Moments later Murphy controlled a long ball from Porteous but was unlucky with his attempt to set up Kevin Nisbet.
Hibs looked more lively at the start of the second-half as the hosts seemed content to hit on the break.
Stevie Mallan replaced Newell on the hour mark then six minutes later Hibs were denied a clear penalty when Matty Kennedy clearly pushed Martin Boyle to the ground but referee Euan Anderson waved away his appeal.
Paul McGinn was then booked for a late challenge on Kennedy before Drey Wright replaced Murphy as Hibs looked to get back into contention.
The referee once again missed a blatant foul on Boyle on the edge of the area after a superb ball from Mallan then wrongly penalised Kevin Nisbet who fairly won the ball from Ferguson inside the centre circle.
Jamie Gullan replaced Nisbet in the 74th minute then moments later Paul Hanlon was booked for a foul on goal scorer Wright who broke clear.
Hibs defensive horror show continued and Hedges dispossessed McGinn before rounding Marciano but Porteous managed to intercept his cut ball and Hanlon cleared off the line.
In the dying minutes, Lewis twice saved shots from Gullan and Taylor did well to block a close range effort from Boyle.
The result means that Aberdeen leapfrog Hibs into third place.
Aberdeen: Lewis, Hoban, Considine, Hedges, Taylor, Cosgrove, McLennan, Ferguson, Wright, Kennedy, McCrorie. Subs: Woods, Logan, Devlin, Ojo, Main, McGinn, Lee, Hernandez, Edmundson
Hibs: Marciano, McGinn, Doig, Hanlon, Porteous, Gogic, Newell, Murphy, Boyle, Doidge, Nisbet. Subs Barnes, Gray, McGregor, Mackie, S.McGinn, Hallberg, Mallan, Wright, Gullan, Magennis
Referee Euan Anderson
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
