Celtic’s win over Hibs at the weekend was a solid performance by the Bhoys.
Despite going behind to a Martin Boyle opener against the run of play, Celtic comfortably beat Hibs in the end after quickfire late first-half goals from Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah.
Reo Hatate put the icing on the cake with lovely, low curling effort in the second half to ensure Celtic’s 15-year Hibs record at Parkhead stayed intact and that their lead at the top of the table remained at 17 points.
However, there was an incident in the second 45 minutes between Kuhn and Hibs defender Jack Iredale that has led to match referee Colin Steven being condemned for failing to take action after both players became embroiled in an off-the-ball heated exchange at Celtic Park.
Ex-refs ‘can’t defend’ Colin Stein after Hibs player’s conduct towards Celtic’s Nicolas Kuhn
There was an incident in which Jack Iredale grabbed Nicolas Kuhn off the ball and the two players took part in a heated exchange.
Reacting to the scuffle, refereeing podcast The Ref’s View slammed Colin Steven and laid the blame squarely on Hibs’ Iredale as being the main ‘instigator’ of the exchange.
Reviewing the footage on X, the account said, “We’ve been sent this footage to watch. I’m sorry, but that is very weak refereeing to walk away when a confrontation is occurring.
“Can’t defend that & won’t.”
When a fan from Celtic’s rivals claimed that Kuhn should have seen yellow for his part, the account continued, “We’ll gloss over the fact that, in this instance, the Hibs player was the instigator?”
And as a Celtic fan criticised the assistant referee for not taking action to stop it the reply was, “The AR would be in communication over the coms kit, so not his shout. The ref should never walk away from such an incident.
“The assistant referee would be in communication over the coms kit, so not his shout. The ref should never walk away from such an incident.”
Celtic’s win sets up Wednesday night vs Aberdeen nicely
The emphatic win means Celtic head to Pittodrie full of confidence and, clearly, in no mood to let up despite the league being won.
Brendan Rodgers has already hinted at who will be in his Celtic starting line-up against The Dons after admitting Viljami Sinisalo will start at Pittodrie.
With the Scottish Cup final less than two weeks away, Celtic will want to put down a marker up at Aberdeen to leave Jimmy Thelin’s men in no doubt the challenge they will face to stop the treble bid at Hampden.
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