Hibs report and ratings from thumping win over Aberdeen as Jamie McGrath sparks rout of dismal Dons

Hibs bagged their first league victory under new gaffer Marink Reedijk in stunning style at Pittodrie, running out 4-0 winners against an Aberdeen team in crisis – and dragging themselves off the foot of the Scottish Premiership in the process. On a day when the visitors lost Felix Passlack with a suspected hamstring problem after just eight minutes, it took almost an hour for Hibs to break through.

Once Jamie McGrath had netted, however, substitutes Callum Wright, Nicky Cadden and Thibault Klidje piled the misery on a home side in disarray. Victory takes Hibs up to tenth in the table. And, just as importantly, gave Reedijk exactly what he’d asked for as the visitors built on the momentum of last weekend’s historic Hampden win over Hearts.

Hibs will now head into the international break feeling a whole lot better about themselves. And, with a series of winnable games coming up once the league resumes, they’ll fancy their chances of building on this performance,

A Hibs starting line-up showing just one change, Jack Iredale slotting in at left back in place of the injured Adam Mayor, arrived in the north east feeling refreshed – they travelled up to Aberdeen after lunch yesterday – and, you’d have to think, energised by their most recent outing. But they suffered a serious blow with the loss of captain Passlack inside the opening 10 minutes, the right back pulling up clutching his left hamstring.

Devoid of their usual wide threat on the right, Hibs struggled to get down the sides against an Aberdeen team who packed the middle of the park. That they still managed to find a gap in the red ranks from time to time was commendable – but it didn’t look as if they’d find a way through.

True, Martin Boyle should surely have buried the chance that fell to him with 22 minutes on the clock, the veteran blazing the ball over the bar from all of 12 yards. McGrath also created a couple of opportunities for himself, displaying dazzling feet and a quick instinct to get off shots, one blocked, the other drifting just wide.

Aberdeen, who had been restricted to one Hicham Mahou shot – brilliantly saved by Raphael Sallinger – for most of the first half, rallied remarkably with five minutes to go until the break. Hibs had to rely on a super Marko Ivezic block on Kevin Nisbet, another super save in response to a Jack Milne long-range shot, and then the woodwork denying Milne a headed goal. It was breathless stuff, for a few worrying moments.

Yet it was the visitors who went up the tunnel wondering how they hadn’t scored right at the death, Joe Newell sending substitute right back Alex Williams free with a superb pass simply inviting the West Brom loanee to put in a cross. That he did. But Josh Mulligan sent his free header wide from all of six yards.

Hibs created the better of the chances after the break, with McGrath seeing a shot blocked and Newell pulling an effort wide of the near post. Still without a shot on target, it nevertheless felt as if they were building to something.

And what a something it was, as Newell looked up from the left flank to see McGrath standing in loads of space in a central area. The Irishman took one touch before letting rip from 25 yards, his shot always swerving away from Aberdeen goalkeeper Marius Muller.

As Aberdeen went to their bench in search of a way back into the game, Hibs seemed to play with more freedom after going ahead. Mulligan had two good sights on goal not long after the opener; he’d surely rather we focus on the thumping shot tipped over by Muller, and not the one he battered against the backside of team-mate Owen Elding, who had certainly made an interesting run as Hibs broke on the counter-attack.

That threat on the break increased when Klidje replaced Elding. And the goal came from a quick free-kick that allowed Mulligan to play the striker in on the keeper, Wright doing the tidying up after Muller’s leg save.

Mutiny among the home support reached fever pitch when Cadden, who had come on at left back for Jack Iredale, found himself free inside the box, taking his time to chest down the ball and rifle a low right-footed shot beyond the goalie. And few goals can have been celebrated with as much glee as Klidje’s close-range injury time strike, Wright turning provider this time with a hard low cross from the right.

Here’s how Hibs rated in their biggest win of the season: