Hibs v Motherwell ratings and report as Easter Road side fall victim to Steelmen curse on SPFL opening weekend

The curse of the Steelmen remains unbroken. This afternoon’s 2-1 home loss to Motherwell will have some Hibs fans wondering if Motherwell’s hex over their team is immune to all outside forces.

Just when it looked as the Easter Road side were building up to a dramatic late win over the Fir Park club, the only top-flight side Hibs failed to beat last season, they suffered the loss of a sickening late goal. And left the park to a far from rapturous reception … among the minority of fans still in the building at full-time.

A Lukas Fadinger penalty after 39 minutes, the Motherwell man converting from the spot after Oscar Priestman had been felled inside the box by a late lunge from Josh Mulligan, put the visitors into the lead. Martin Boyle then won AND converted a penalty for the home side ten minutes into the second half.

Despite David Gray’s men battering away at the visitors heading into the closing stages of the contest, however, they were undone by a blistering Motherwell counter-attack finished off by Ibrahim Said with just five minutes remaining. Fair? Nobody cares. Not on day one of the Scottish Premiership. Not when fans expect and demand so much more.

Although Gray went with an unchanged starting XI for this league opener, kicking off the domestic campaign with the exact same line-up that had set the tone in Thursday night’s European comeback, this wasn’t a like-for-like situation. That tactical flexibility he’s talked about was in evidence here.

At times, they lined up in a 4-2-3-1. Occasionally it looked more like the more familiar 3-4-2-1. And, however they lined up, the defenders were encouraged to follow targets all over the park in certain circumstances – knowing that they’d have a team-mate covering.

Going forward, Nathan Lowe brought his energy and aggression to bear early on, although he will be annoyed to have missed the target with a low right-footed shot after just eight minutes. Just moments later, Martin Boyle’s similar effort was deflected wide as the home side sought the early breakthrough.

To be honest, though, both teams looked a little flat after their midweek exertions. This was a game in need of a spark.

Unfortunately for Hibs, the flicker of creativity that broke the contest open came from the visitors, a series of nice give-and-go passes in and around the box ended with Priestman driving into the penalty area. Mulligan got there as fast as he could, which was his only defence – but didn’t get to the ball.

Fadinger beat Raphael Sallinger from the spot despite the goalkeeper diving in the right direction. And Hibs found themselves under pressure.

When Regan Charles-Cook ripped a left-footed shot just wide less than five minutes later, there was audible booing from sections of the home support. More noises of protest and dissatisfaction came at half-time, while there was an air of near-mutiny when Raphael Sallinger was forced to make a brilliant one-on-one stop from Charles-Cook early in the second half, the keeper sparing the blushes of Jason Kerr after the defender was caught in possession.

But the mood shifted completely when Motherwell invited Hibs back into the contest, a short pass back was pounced upon by Boyle, who held off Priestman and drew the foul. The skipper stepped up to convert the penalty himself.

That prompted a flurry of attacking from the hosts, with Owen Elding denied twice in the space of just moments – once by Motherwell keeper Alex Paulsen, then by a goal-line clearance after the goalie was beaten. Adam Mayor also saw shot with his right foot, supposedly his standing leg, slide just over the bar shortly before he was replaced by Rudi Molotnikov.

Lowe really should have bagged the winner with 14 minutes remaining, the target man sliding into meet a superb low cross from Elding – but sending it inches wide with his outstretched right leg. A hard chance. But the sort you’d expect to be put away by an out-and-out finisher.

Lowe then did beat the keeper, Paulsen lying prone after dropping a cross from Rudi Molotnikov, only for Martin Moorman to make his second goal-line clearance of the afternoon. Hibs were absolutely pounding away at the Motherwell goal heading into the closing 10 minutes.

Kind of inevitable, what happened next, then, wasn’t it? Molotnikov tried to beat his man in midfield, lost the ball – and Motherwell hit with the kind of pacey counter-attack that made them so much fun to watch last season, Said finishing a sweeping move that cut Hibs into little broken pieces.

Super sub Ante Suto managed to generate some energy with a shot well saved by Paulsen. But they could not find a way through the claret and amber wall erected in the away box.