Scottish PremiershipSaturday, December 7, 2024Celtic Park CELTIC…3 (Engels 6, Newell OG 54, Kyogo 84) HIBERNIAN…0 On a cold afternoon at Paradise, the Hoops warmed the hearts of the Celtic faithful with a good performance and a 3-0 win over Hibernian thanks to goals from Arne Engels, Kyogo and an own goal from Joe Newell.Within the first minute, Hibernian had a massive chance to take the lead. A long ball was sent forward from inside the visitors’ half, and Mykola Kukharevych found himself charging through on goal with only Kasper Schmeichel to beat.Schmeichel produced an excellent save with his legs before holding on to a long-range effort from Nicky Cadden a moment later.Despite their positive start, Hibs were undone in the sixth minute by a wonderful and instinctive piece of link-up play between Nicolas Kuhn and Alistair Johnston, who have developed a strong partnership on the right-hand side.Johnston’s ball across the face of goal was met by Arne Engels, with the Belgian scoring from close range to make it 1-0 to the Celts.In the eighth minute, Luke McCowan almost doubled the lead, but his shot from inside the box after some great build-up play from Daizen Maeda smashed off the crossbar.With 17 minutes played, the visitors found themselves with another big chance after Lewis Miller drove down the right wing and sent the ball in to the box to find Joe Newell, but his shot from 12 yards out rose high over the bar.Kasper Schmeichel was called in to action again just after the 20-minute mark when he had to pull off a brave block from another Kukharevych shot.In added time at the end of the first half, Adam Idah had a big chance to make it 2-0 when he spun with the ball at his feet in the box and fired a shot towards goal, but Jordan Smith was able to make the save.Almost immediately after that opportunity, another long ball was sent forward from the Hibernian half, prompting a race between Alistair Johnston and Elie Youan, which the Celtic right-back duly won, preventing any threat to Kasper Schmeichel’s goal.Brendan Rodgers made one change at half time, swapping Nicolas Kuhn for James Forrest and early in the second half, the Celts found themselves with two chances to double the lead. The first fell to Arne Engels, but his effort from close range saw Jordan Smith make the save. And moments later, Smith denied Liam Scales from the edge of the six-yard box. However it wasn’t long before it was 2-0 to the champions, with the goal coming in the 54th minute. Luke McCowan’s corner was met by Adam Idah who flicked the ball on towards goal, and HIbs captain, Joe Newell inadvertently got a touch on the ball and directed it in to his own net to make it 2-0. Kasper Schmeichel had one of his best performances of the season so far today at Celtic Park, earning him a well-deserved Man of the Match award, and in the 62nd minute he came up with two massive stops in quick succession to prevent Youan and then Cadden from dragging Hibernian back in to the match. With just under 15 minutes left to play, Yang, who had been brought on for Maeda, wove his way in to the box and had a shot on goal which went just wide of the near post. Trusty then went close with a header from a Bernardo corner which the Hibs keeper tipped over the bar. Celtic’s third goal of the afternoon, which came in the 84th minute, was a thing of beauty. James Forrest threaded the ball through to Kyogo, who quickly adjusted his feet to give himself a chance to finish. He then expertly lifted the ball over Jordan Smith and in to the net to put the game to bed and secure another three points. The 3-0 victory, combined with results elsewhere, gives the Celts a nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table. Next up for Brendan Rodgers and his side is a trip to Croatia where they will face Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL on Wednesday night.FixturesCeltic Vs. Hibernian – Sat, Dec 7th 2024, 15:00
Trending Now
