Celtic went 20 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership after a 3-1 victory over Hibs at Parkhead.
Celtic really should have been ahead before Martin Boyle’s opener, which came after 25 minutes after £6m defender Auston Trusty failed to clear his lines.
The chances prior to Boyle’s goal came mostly through Adam Idah, but all of his efforts lacked conviction, which isn’t uncommon for the Irishman.
The Hoops dominated the first-half possession-wise and on the 41st minute, they equalised through Nicolas Kuhn before Idah, just prior to half-time, got his goal thanks to Kuhn’s dinked assist.
There was a lengthy VAR offside check before Kuhn’s tap in, but it was cleared by Kevin Clancy as onside, which was ultimately the correct call.
The Bhoys made the three points safe with Reo Hatate’s beautiful curling strike after some superb one touch play by Callum McGregor and Arne Engels.
Here are 67 Hail Hail’s player ratings for the 3-1 win.
Celtic player ratings vs Hibs
Kasper Schmeichel – 6
Back in from the start after injury and proved his quality in the first-half with a brilliant stop to deny Martin Boyle from close range. Did not have much to do after that.
Anthony Ralston – 7
Played a lovely curling ball into the path of Nicolas Kuhn for Celtic’s equaliser minutes before half-time. Also performed his defensive duties well at corners.
Auston Trusty – 5
Sloppy when failing to clear the ball away right before Martin Boyle’s opener for Hibs. Still isn’t living up to his £6m price tag.
Liam Scales – 6
Showed good touches in tight spots and passed well enough. The Irishman may have his doubters, but he’s a better left-sided defender than Trusty, as proven today.
Greg Taylor – 6
Industrious down the left-hand side and played the inverted full-back role well again, even if he did struggle to break down Hibs’ defence.
Callum McGregor (C) – 6
Saw plenty of the ball as always and kept things ticking for Celtic as he usually does.
Arne Engels – 5
The £11m record signing has been accused of failing to put in a string of good performances this season, instead showing just flashes of his ability. Sadly, that was the case again today.
Reo Hatate – 9
Standout player again for Celtic as the Japanese midfielder enjoyed himself in the sun. Played some superb long through passes and scored a sumptuous effort for Celtic’s third goal. Will he stay in the summer?
Nicolas Kuhn – 8
Goal and an assist for the German this afternoon. His goal was an easy finish from the angle after rounding Jordan Smith and he played a lovely dinked pass for Idah to score Celtic’s second. Back in form.
Daizen Maeda – 7
Flashed a number of dangerous low crosses into the box which sadly were not gobbled up by Idah, who was always a yard or two behind. Ran himself into the ground until the last second of the match.
Adam Idah – 6
Had three decent chances in the first-half but failed to convert any of them. However, he finally netted just before half-time after Kuhn’s chipped through ball.
James Forrest (sub) – 4
Looks desperate to get his goal and got a shot away that was saved, although he was flagged for offside.
Paulo Bernardo (sub) – 4
Kept things ticking in midfield to help see out Celtic’s win.
Johnny Kenny (sub) – 3
Had a shot that was saved by Hibs goalkeeper Jordan Smith.
Luke McCowan (sub) – 3
Much like Bernardo, kept possession well for Celtic.
Sean McArdle (sub) – 3
His senior Celtic debut as he got the last 10 minutes of the game. Looked calm and composed on the ball.
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