Hibs debrief: Josh Campbell's sensational showing, Elie Youan goal highlights abject Aberdeen, Lee Johnson nails it

A look back at Saturday’s game at Easter Road after Hibs destroyed Aberdeen 6-0.

Player of the match

There were so many performers in green and white who were excellent. Will Fish was a colossus at the back, Elie Youan was a constant menace in attack and got his first Easter Road goal, Harry McKirdy put in a power of work on the right and Joe Newell ran the show fro the middle of the park. But there's simply only one winner. Josh Campbell netted his first career hat-trick, had two assists with the through ball for Kevin Nisbet and free-kick for Fish, and made a couple of potential goalsaving challenges.

Defining moment

Josh Campbell celebrates in front of a dismayed Aberdeen away crowd after opening the scoring. Picture: SNS

Youan’s goal just before half-time. It killed the game as a contest, but it also summed up the proceedings. The Frenchman, who has struggled in front of goal all season, was given space in the six-yard box to head home a Newell corner from close range. It was as easy a goal as you’re likely to see a team concede all season. It highlighted Hibs’ utter dominance and how embarrassingly abject the visitors were throughout the contest as Jim Goodwin oversaw his final game in charge.

Ref watch

Craig Napier gave a pair of very strange fouls against Newell when the Hibs midfielder appeared to cleanly win the ball in the centre of the park.

Benefit of hindsight

There’s not really anything you can say about this from a Hibs perspective. Lee Johnson had to fill a lot of holes in his starting XI due to the injury list, the departure of Ryan Porteous and the uncertainly about Kevin Nisbet’s future lasting until less than 24 hours before the match, meaning he was only trusted to come off the bench. He got them all correct. As for Aberdeen, well, it doesn’t exactly take in-depth to analysis to summarise that keeping Goodwin in charge after the Darvel debacle did not turn out to be the right decision.

Moment you may have missed

Both Campbell and Youan had fun celebrating first-half goals in front of the Aberdeen end. The former spread his arms out in front of the disgruntled visitors, while the latter mimed a sleeping motion – potentially describing the Dons’ defence.

Message from the editor

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