Celtic have bounced back perfectly from UEFA Champions League disappointment with a superb 6-1 victory over Hibernian this afternoon.
A hat-trick from James Forrest delighted the Celtic support, with Giorgos Giakoumakis also finding his way onto the scoresheet with his fifth and sixth goals of the season. Daizen Maeda even managed to break his goal drought to round off the scoring late on.
Overall it was a fine 90 minutes from Ange Postecoglou’s side, but what were the big takeaways from the encounter? Here are our big three…
History Bhoy
James Forrest has had a difficult couple of years at Celtic with injuries and a loss form seeing him fall down the pecking order out wide. However, today was very much all about him, and it was great to see him seize a big chance to impress.
His hat-trick today actually means he moves into some pretty illustrious company, becoming just the 30th man in the history of Celtic to score 100 or more goals for the club. It was a slice of history, particularly poignant on the day another of the 100 club – Frank McGarvey – emotionally addressed supporters after a cancer diagnosis.
Forrest was very good throughout his time on the pitch, and the ovation he received from fans when he was substituted told a story. He is still valued at Celtic despite a reduced role, and if he can stay fit, expect to see him involved more over the next few weeks.
Electric new partnership
In the first half, much of Celtic’s joy came down the left flank with a new partnership of Sead Haksabanovic and Alexandro Bernabei being unleashed on Hibs.
Haksabanovic, in particular, looked incredibly dangerous running at their defence, but the dual threat of Bernabei running on the over and underlap was a joy to watch. It bodes well, considering both of them signed long-term contracts in the summer.
Bernabei is increasingly proving he can be a capable stand-in for Greg Taylor, with even more to come, while Haksabanaovic is likely to be a pivotal figure in the team from this point on.
He’s done well through the middle in recent matches, but clearly, he really comes alive when played out wide, and hopefully, we see more of that in the coming weeks.
The flood gates open for Celtic
In recent weeks there has been so much chatter about Celtic’s lack of composure in front of goal. And rightly so, some of the finishing, or lack of, has been so frustrating. We’ve been creating chances, but today the flood gates finally opened.
Most of our big opportunities were taken. Giakoumakis is well on his way with six goals for the season now, while it will be a massive confidence for Daizen Maeda to net his first of the season after so many opportunities in the box.
This is hopefully the start of a strong scoring run now. It’s back to the kind of scorelines we were witnessing at the start of the season.
With Motherwell away on Wednesday in a big knockout game, and a trip to Tynecastle to face Hearts directly after – it’d be a great time to start racking up big totals again.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou issues Club Brugge reminder after Celtic comparisons.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
