Scottish League/Hibernian 1 Celtic 2: The thoughts of Celtic's supporters have already turned to next season, given that the club's pursuit of the Scottish Premier league title has become a canter. This victory over 10-man Hibs was not one of the more memorable of their season but their lead over second-placed Hearts is now 15 points with nine games to play.
Two topics dominated pre-match conversation among Celtic fans who braved the worst weather of the Scottish winter by heading to Edinburgh: the impending duel between Gordon Strachan and the Rangers manager-in-waiting, Paul Le Guen, and Gary Caldwell, the Hibs player who has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Celtic at the end of the season.
Yesterday, Celtic demonstrated belligerence rather than the brilliance that has typified Strachan's tenure to date and Caldwell performed adequately under strong scrutiny at the heart of the home defence.
"Hibs were better than us for the first half-hour," conceded Strachan. "Our technical ability wasn't good enough for the shape we wanted to play. But it's turned out to be a good day for us. We came back into the game and we are lucky because we have mentally strong people."
Hibs indeed had by far the better of the opening stages and took a deserved lead with a stunning 25-yard free-kick from the 23-year-old Derek Riordan, who again proved during his hour on the field that he will be a loss to the Hibs manager, Tony Mowbray, when he too moves to pastures new in the summer.
Roy Keane, who last weekend demonstrated his ability as a marauding attacking midfield player against Aberdeen, was resigned to defending on his own six-yard line during those fraught early minutes but, in Shaun Maloney, Celtic have a player who can change a match with consummate ease. His bursting run in the 34th minute brought a rash foul from Steven Whittaker inside the area and Maloney blasted the penalty high past Simon Brown to level the scores.
The winning goal arrived after 60 minutes when the Hibs defence allowed a Shunsuke Nakamura corner to arrive unchallenged at the feet of Stephen McManus. The young defender, who agreed a new contract on Friday, celebrated his improved terms with a well taken finish underneath Brown.
The goalkeeper's afternoon got worse seconds later when he handled Stilian Petrov's through-pass to Maciej Zurawski outside his area and was sent off. Maloney, again felled by Whittaker, then watched his second penalty attempt of the afternoon saved by the substitute goalkeeper, Ziggy Malkowski.
The most intriguing incident of the closing stages was Keane's refusal of a handshake from Caldwell after the Celtic-bound player had fouled the Irishman. Having stated on Friday that he "can't get too close" to team-mates, perhaps the former Manchester United captain's snub was to be expected.
"I have no qualms with any of the referee's decisions," said Mowbray. "We played the last 20 minutes largely in Celtic's half, which is credit to my players."
l Guardian Service
HIBERNIAN: Simon Brown; Whittaker, Caldwell, Smith, Murphy, Stewart, Thomson, Glass (Fletcher 69), Sproule, Killen (Dalglish 74), Riordan (Malkowski 62). Subs not used: Hogg, Konde, McCluskey, Shields. Sent off: Simon Brown (61). Booked: Whittaker, Thomson. Goal: Riordan 24.
CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Wilson, Nakamura (Pearson 80), Lennon, Keane, Maloney, Petrov, Zurawski. Subs not used: Marshall, Dublin, Thompson, Varga, Lawson, Wallace. Goals: Maloney 36 pen, McManus 60.
Referee: A Freeland (Scotland).
