Celtic 2-0 Hibernian: Brendan Rodgers’ men maintain their lead over Rangers and Aberdeen with comfortable win at Parkhead

Celtic 2-0 Hibernian: Brendan Rodgers’ men maintain their lead over Rangers and Aberdeen with comfortable win at Parkhead
Celtic maintained their position at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-0 win over Hibernian.With Rangers securing a 4-2 win away at Aberdeen, Brendan Rodgers side knew they needed to produce a winning performance.3

Ryan Christie opened the scoring for the hosts

And the league leaders went ahead after 25 minutes of their home game against Hibernian.Scott Sinclair was inches away from the opener just moments before Ryan Christie’s strike.Neat interplay involving Timothy Weah and new signing Jeremy Toljan finished with Christie drilling into the bottom corner.The Boys doubled their lead in the second half, with Christie turning provider for Oliver Burke.3

Burke secured the win

The midfielder slipped in Burke and the on-loan West Bromwich Albion man saw his shot loop into the back of the net.New signing Jeremy Toljan made his first start at right-back, Timothy Weah came in for injured winger James Forrest while another of Celtic’s January recruits, 22-year-old Ivory Coast forward Vakoun Bayo, started on the bench.The visitors, who had Ryan Gauld and Sean Mackie back in the side, showed some early intent but Celtic’s pressure began to slowly build and in the 14th minute Christie came close with a range-finding drive from the edge of the box.Hibs keeper Ofir Marciano then had to be quick off his line to block a close-range effort from Weah, who had latched on to a pass from midfielder Callum McGregor.3

Timothy Weah was in great form for the Bhoys

The impending opener came when Christie took a pass from Toljan inside the penalty area and quickly fired a right-footed drive low past Marciano for his third goal in four games.Hibs became increasingly ragged and Marciano parried another Weah shot, this time from 20 yards, as the home side threatened once more.Mark McNulty replaced injured Oli Shaw for the start of the second half and then Stephen Mallan took over from Gauld just before the hour mark, seconds before Marciano made a remarkable save from Boyata’s close-range header from a whipped-in Christie free-kick.However, the second goal arrived soon afterwards. Burke raced into the box to take a clever Christie pass with his drive hitting Hibs defender Darren McGregor and looping over Marciano. Immediately, Darnell Johnson came on for David Gray to make his Hibs debut and moments later McNulty flashed a drive over the Celtic bar but a comeback looked unlikely.Rodgers turned to his bench with Mikey Johnston replacing Scott Sinclair while Boyata made way for Nir Bitton.Bayo was ready to make his debut but as he stood on the sidelines, left-back Emilio Izaguirre was crocked by a fierce tackle by Johnson, who was booked by referee Craig Thomson.Jonny Hayes came on for the Honduras international who was carried up tunnel on a stretcher, the one sour note of Celtic’s evening.

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