Ryan Christie: Celtic were better than Hibs by far

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Celtic attacker Ryan Christie has roared back at Hibs and claimed that his team were the better side by far in yesterday’s stalemate.

Christie notched his 11th goal of the season at Easter Road. His fine header canceled out a ridiculously fortunate own goal that put Hibs in the lead. Celtic went on to dominate the contest, limiting Hibs to just three shots on goal and no real chances for Fraser Forster to deal with.

Unfortunately, however, the Hoops couldn’t find the net again either. Despite our constant probing and our wide-play, it all led to nothing. However that hasn’t stopped the likes of Glenn Middleton from claiming that Hibs deserved to win (Hibs TV).

And, speaking after the game on Celtic’s official website, Christie stated his belief that there was only one side who deserved to win the game, and it wasn’t the hosts.

“We were a better team than Hibs by far. They got a slice of luck with the first goal and, to be fair, I don’t think we started well, but after their goal, we dominated and it was just maybe a lack of composure or conviction in the final third.

“That’s down to me and some of the others – and maybe the finishing was just a little bit off today. We were aware of that stat (no league win at Easter Road since 2014) going into the game and we were desperate to put it right, so it was frustrating to put it right.

“So we’re frustrated but we’re still unbeaten and it’s not like our heads are down. We’ve got a big game on Thursday that we’re now all looking forward to.”

Celtic just didn’t take their chances in the final third

Nobody watching Celtic yesterday can say we performed poorly. It was perhaps our best league performance at Easter Road since Hibs got promoted back into the division. Celtic were in good shape yesterday, but just didn’t have that killer touch.

Hibs offered next to nothing going forward. Scott Allan showed some good touches and turns. A good performance from him was never in doubt of course given his failed Celtic spell. Outside of that, Hibs didn’t have a lot going for them.

Meanwhile, Celtic had a variety of star performers. The likes of Olivier Ntcham, Scott Brown, Odsonne Edouard, and Moritz Bauer all put terrific shifts in for the champions.

The final ball was at times lacking. In truth, Hibs goalkeeper Chris Maxwell didn’t have enough to do throughout the game either. More often than not, the likes of James Forrest and Christie himself were struggling to inspire.

But it was still a dominant Celtic display without the goals. For the first time in a long time in Leith, Celtic managed to nullify Hibs with relative ease. Their goal was a ridiculous slice of luck, but we got on with it and didn’t allow it to knock us off our stride.

Christie has every right to go on the defensive. Celtic were good in Edinburgh, but it just wasn’t to be.