It is a case of going back to the drawing board for Hibernian manager Lee Johnson after Celtic demolished his side 6-1 in a one-sided affair at Celtic Park on October 15. Ange Postecoglu‘s Bhoys were too much for Johnson’s Hibs, and they inflicted Hibs’ heaviest defeat since Rangers beat them by the same scoreline in August 2019.
Celtic went into the match as overwhelming favourites with the best online betting sites, as is usually the case. However, Hibernian headed to Celtic Park having won four of their previous five Scottish Premiership games and was confident of giving a good account of themselves. It took only nine minutes for Celtic to break the deadlock, James Forrest scoring from close range before adding a second 15 minutes later when goalkeeper David Marshall fumbled what looked to be a routine shot. A Giorgis Giakoumakis strike was sandwiched between Forrest’s brace, and Hibs trailed 3-0 going into half-time.
Individual Errors Prove Costly
Individual errors were rife, especially during the first half. A combination of Celtic’s wingers playing excellent football and the Hibs full-backs Chris Cadden and Lewis Stevenson having games they would like to forget in a hurry meant Celtic carved Hibs open with every attack.
Elie Youan made it 3-1 on 56 minutes with his first strike of the season, but it proved to be a flash in the pan as Forrest completed his hat trick only two minutes later, which happened to be the 31-year-old’s 100th goal in Celtic colours. Forrest’s third goal came courtesy of a horrendous miskick from the usually reliable youngster Nohan Kenneh.
Giakoumakis grabbed his second 17 minutes from time before substitute Daizen Maeda poked the ball home on 89 minutes to send Hibs back to the changing rooms with their tails between their legs.
Johnson Critical of His Players
Hibs manager Johnson admitted his players played with fear during the first half and that although Celtic were good, individual errors from his players did not help the situation,
“We have to be humble in defeat, and Celtic were very good, but we made horrendous errors for all of the goals,” Johnson said in his post-match interview. It doesn’t matter how much running you do or how much effort you put in; if you can’t defend properly and make individual errors like we did, you’re going to come unstuck. We can’t accept that standard mentally, and it’s going to be a tough week for us. We have to take lessons from games like this, whether that’s myself and the way we recruit but also for the players to step into these games and not show the fear we showed in the first half.”
Back In Action on October 21
Johnson’s Hibs are back in action on October 21 when they host ninth-placed St Johnstone at Easter Road. This is where Johnson will earn his money because he must rebuild his side’s confidence after such a comprehensive defeat. Hibs have shown, in glimpses, what they are capable of. An impressive 2-2 draw against high-flying Rangers may have been followed by a defeat to St Mirren, but four consecutive victories followed. A relative shock defeat away to then rock-bottom side Dundee United came before the 6-1 Celtic thrashing.
Until the Celtic game, Hibs’ defence had only conceded eight goals in the opening ten games and looked rock solid. It was the other end of the pitch where Hibs has struggled. They have only scored more than one goal twice, and the only forward to find the back of the net is Martin Boyle, who has four goals in nine games. The likes of Christian Doidge, Jair Tavares, Momodou Bojang, and Elias Melkersen are still to get off the mark. Johnson needs to find a way to keep matters tight at the back but then have an attacking presence. Let us see if he finds that balance against St Johnstone on Friday.
