Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Celtic 3 - 1 Hibernian

Celtic returned to the top of the Scottish Premier League with a comfortable win against Hibernian.
Anthony Stokes fired the hosts into a fourth minute lead, then Gary Hooper converted from a penalty after Scott Brown was fouled by Hibs' Martin Scott.
Hooper added his second of the night before the break, then a Liam Miller penalty gave Hibs a lifeline.
Six minutes from time, Hooper sent a penalty wide after Freddie Ljungberg was brought down by Paul Hanlon.
The victory puts Celtic two points ahead of Rangers at the top of the table, with both clubs having played the same number of matches.
Celtic made three changes from the side who lost the Co-operative Insurance Cup final to Rangers with Stokes, Glenn Loovens and James Forrest all starting and Thomas Rogne, Georgios Samaras and Kris Commons all named on the bench.
Hibs made four changes after their draw with Hearts at the weekend, as Michael Hart, David Stephens, David Wotherspoon and Ricardo Vaz Te were all added to the team for the visit to the east end of Glasgow.
Hooper almost snatched the lead for Celtic inside the first minute, but struck straight at a fully-alert Mark Brown in the Hibernian goal.
Two minutes later, Stokes made no mistake when Izaguirre threaded through a neat pass and the Irishman blasted the ball into the back of the net.
Hooper grabbed Celtic's second from the spot after Scott was penalised for a clumsy challenge on Celtic captain Brown in the 20th minute.
A Charlie Mulgrew free-kick almost handed Loovens his second goal of the season when the big Dutchman rose highest and nodded wide.
The onslaught continued when Forrest fired in a right-footed shot from the edge of the Hibernian penalty area that warmed the hands of Brown.
Hibs' first opportunity of the match arrived from a free-kick wide on the right that Miller sent straight into the arms of Celtic keeper Fraser Forster. Moments later, Vaz Te beat the offside trap to test Forster, who could only parry wide for a corner.
The Hibs defence were left standing as half-time approached when Stokes delivered an inch-perfect ball through to Hooper and the Englishman struck with precision past Brown.
On the stroke of half-time, Vaz Te headed a sterling opportunity wide of Forster's left-hand post.
Shortly after the interval, Derek Riordan sprang into action and struck for goal from 18 yards out, Forster deflecting out for a corner - then the former Celtic man was substituted for Akpo Sodje due to injury.
Brown had to look lively in the Hibs goal when Hooper bore down on him chasing a defence-splitting pass, then Izaguirre flashed a shot across the face of goal and inches past the right-hand post.
Wotherspoon went down in the Celtic penalty area after a feeble challenge from Mulgrew in the 67th minute and referee Euan Norris pointed to the spot.
Former Celtic midfielder Miller stepped up and coolly lobbed the ball past Forster to handed Hibs a lifeline.
Stokes fired in a curling free-kick in the 72nd minute, but Hibs keeper Brown saw it coming a mile off and parried wide for a corner.
A searching cross from Wotherspoon 10 minutes from the end could not find a Hibernian team-mate and the brief spell of pressure from the visitors soon fizzled out.
In the final 10 minutes, Ljungberg came off the Celtic bench and earned the hosts another spot-kick after Hanlon needlessly brought the Swede down near the goal-line.
However, Hooper passed up the chance to complete his hat-trick when he stepped up and sent the ball wide of Brown's left-hand post.

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