Scottish PremiershipSunday, February 22, 2026Celtic Park CELTIC…1(Nygren 45 +1) HIBS…2(Passlack 24, Andrews 88) Celtic were defeated by Hibs at Celtic Park this afternoon, with Benjamin Nygren’s equaliser just before half time cancelled out by a late winner for the visitors. Martin O’Neill’s men looked to put the visitors under early pressure and just minutes in to the match there was a shout for a penalty when it looked like Tomáš Čvančara had been hauled down in the box, but the play continued. As Hibernian began to settle in to the game, they were able to force themselves up the park and with just shy of 10 minutes gone, Julián Araujo had to produce a well-timed block in the box to deny Nicky Cadden, who fired a shot towards goal from close range. Benjamin Nygren went close to breaking the deadlock after some good link-up play with Čvančara, but the Swede’s effort from the edge of the box crept narrowly wide of the post. The opening goal went the way of the visitors with just short of 25 minutes on the clock when a good cross towards the back post from Nicky Cadden found Felix Passlack who headed the ball in to the bottom corner to give Hibs a 1-0 lead. Martin Boyle almost doubled his side’s advantage moments later when he found himself through on goal, but Kasper Schmeichel was able to block the forward’s shot from point-blank range. With half-time approaching, Tomáš Čvančara headed an effort just wide of the target from the centre of the box after Kieran Tierney picked him out with a well-hit first time cross. Čvančara then missed a big opportunity from inside the six-yard box after a cutback from Yang which looked certain to result in a goal, but the Czech striker was unable to make a decent connection with the ball and the chance was gone. Hibs looked like they would go in at the break with the lead, but in injury time at the end of the first half, Kieran Tierney whipped another dangerous cross in to the box which flashed across the face of goal and found Benjamin Nygren at the back post. The Swede, whose goalscoring form this season has made him Celtic’s most prolific player in front of goal, diverted the ball in to the back of the net with a header and levelled the score just before the break.Nygren almost grabbed his second just moments in to the second half when he stung the Hibs keeper’s palms with a powerful shot from distance, a chance which was made by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who sent a clever pass straight through the Hibs defence from the middle of the park. With an hour played, Martin O’Neill made his first changes of the game, replacing Tomáš Čvančara and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate. Yang went close to putting Celtic in front when he sent an effort just wide of the post from inside the box, bringing an end to a wonderful passing move involving Benjamin Nygren. There were further changes for Celtic, with Kieran Tierney and Sebastian Tounekti were replaced by Marcelo Saracchi and James Forrest. Celtic’s task was made more difficult with 20 minutes to go when Auston Trusty was shown a red card after a VAR review for an incident involving Jamie McGrath at a Celtic corner. Trusty’s dismissal forced another change for Martin O’Neill, with Yang having to make way for debutant Benjamin Arthur. Marcelo Saracchi and James Forrest linked up well on the left hand side and with 10 minutes left, that combination almost resulted in a goal, but Forrest’s effort rose just over the bar. The visitors took the lead in the 88th minute through Kai Andrews, who steered a shot in to the bottom corner from the edge of the area to make it 2-1, a scoreline which the Easter Road side were able to see out to take all three points.
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