Hibs gift Celtic initiative in Cup loss - as reflected in ratings

All the durability, endurance and bouncebackability Hibs could muster counted for nothing, in the end. Unable to prevent Celtic from scoring when it mattered, David Gray’s men exited the Premier Sports Cup at the round of 16.

If there were positives to be taken from this 3-1 defeat, not least the goal-scoring performance of Mykola Kuharevich and a solid 20 minutes of standing toe-to-toe with the champions, they were again outweighed by the negatives. An early collapse, finding themselves two down inside the opening 20 minutes for the second time in a week, was compounded by the loss of another tragi-comic goal just when the visitors looked like building on a goal of their own.

Ultimately, if they’re going to keep gifting chances to opponents, this is going to be a very, very long season. Quite the prospect when we’re not even out of August.

Having bravely held the line for all of two minutes and 45 seconds at home to Celtic last weekend, Hibs managed another 65 seconds’ worth of resistance before falling behind in Glasgow. Nicolas Kuhn sent Reo Hatate bursting in behind the visiting defence on the right flank – and his cross found Maeda racing into beat Josef Bursik from close range.

As was the case seven days earlier, Celtic wasted little time in doubling their lead. With 17 minutes on the clock (it took the champions 18 minutes to get to 2-0 at Easter Road), a ball over the top found Marvin Ekpiteta unable to affect Maeda as he held off the central defender and diverted the ball past Bursik from a tightening angle.

Things were looking bleak for Hibs, who were forced deeper and deeper into a defensive shape that looked more like a 5-4-1 than the intended 3-5-2. They needed to find a way to gain territory – and make it count.

Kuharevich proved vital on both fronts, as the big Ukrainian striker powered a header past Kasper Schmeichel to cut the deficit in half. Kuharevich had won the free-kick midway into the Celtic half simply by competing for a high ball and taking the heavy hit from Cameron Carter-Vickers. When Boyle put the dead ball into the back post area, the No. 99 made a thumping connection to give Hibs some hope.

Back in the game and carrying some threat, with the half-time introduction of Nicky Cadden almost proving an instant hit as the left winger got a shot on goal, Hibs just needed to do the basics well and keep the pressure on their hosts. Nothing daft now, lads, all right?

Sigh. You can apportion blame for Celtic’s third goal to a trio of players, with varying degrees of severity, as Hibs turned a 56th-minute goal kick into a crisis. Rocky Bushiri seemed to have an easy pass to Jordan Obita on, yet chose to play a square pass to Ekpiteta, who was immediately put under pressure by Maeda.

The big centre-half turned back on himself and played a pass back towards Josef Bursik, who was closed down quickly by Kuhn. If the pass was far from perfect, the goalie’s clearance was catastrophic, as it hit the Celtic man and rolled into the empty net.

Ekpiteta was replaced soon after the goal, Kuharevich also exiting the field as Gray threw Chris Cadden and Kieron Bowie into the fray. Hibs were decent enough at 3-1 down. Overall, they were better than they had been in the home loss. Just still not good enough, in the areas that matter, to take a major scalp like Celtic.