Scottish Premier League/ Hibernian 0 Celtic 1: If first loves are supposed to hold a special place in the memory, then someone forgot to tell Gordon Strachan. A self-confessed Hibs supporter in his youth, Strachan showed little sign of fondness for the Edinburgh club as he roared Celtic on to an easy win yesterday.
Stilian Petrov's early goal was enough to seal victory for Strachan's men and maintain their second position in the table. The Celtic manager admitted concern, though, that his side had not won by a bigger margin.
Neil Lennon was captaining Celtic for the last time in a period which will be decided by the Scottish FA tomorrow after his attempts to physically and verbally abuse referee Stuart Dougal at the end of last month's Old Firm defeat at Ibrox.
The Celtic manager kept faith with the players who brushed Aberdeen aside last week, and his decision was vindicated within five minutes of the start as Petrov latched on to a sublime through-ball from Shunsuke Nakamura to fire the visitors in front from 12 yards. Celtic are unsurprisingly poised to offer the Bulgarian improved wages to stay in Glasgow, thereby fending off any potential advances from Premiership clubs.
Nakamura's beautifully curled free-kick rebounded from a post after 47 minutes and 15 minutes later there were moments of madness as Hibs' Ivan Sproule kicked out at Paul Telfer and the former Southampton man reacted angrily. Telfer's team-mates did their bit to defuse a potential mass brawl and the referee Craig Thomson issued only three yellow cards.
Hibs enjoyed their most fruitful spell in the closing minutes but could not make serious inroads into Celtic's backline. Artur Boruc saved smartly from the substitute Steven Fletcher but a share of the points would have flattered Mowbray's men.
Meanwhile, Rangers recorded a 3-0 home win over Kilmarnock as pacesetters Hearts stayed top after a 1-0 victory at Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday.
* Guardian Service
HIBERNIAN: Malkowski, Whittaker, Caldwell, Hogg, Murphy, Sproule, Stewart (Fletcher 76), Beuzelin, Thomson, Shiels (Riordan 65), O'Connor (Konte 51). Subs not used: Simon Brown, Glass, Morrow, Rudge. Booked: Sproule.
CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Camara, Petrov, Lennon, Nakamura (Maloney 73), Thompson (Pearson 50), Hartson (Beattie 60), Zurawski. Subs not used: Marshall, Virgo, Wallace, Lawson. Booked: Camara, Telfer, Balde. Goal: Petrov 5.
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland).
