Scottish Premier League/ Hibernian 2 Celtic 2:Gordon Strachan, a manager who can evidently do no wrong at present, watched his substitutes change a game for the second time inside a week yesterday as Celtic recovered from a two-goal deficit to snatch a point at Hibernian.
Rather as the half-time introduction of Shaun Maloney and Jiri Jarosik prompted Tuesday's Champions League win over Manchester United, the substitutes Evander Sno and Aiden McGeady scored a goal apiece here to cancel strikes from Ivan Sproule and Kevin Thomson in an engrossing contest.
"The players got angry at 2-0 and more of them took responsibility," said Strachan afterwards. "We didn't deserve to win but on a lucky day we might have."
The Hibs manager, John Collins, remains unbeaten after five matches but was frustrated that his players failed to convert territorial dominance, with Guillaume Beuzelin running the midfield, into three points.
Celtic were lethargic during the first half, with only profligacy from the hosts keeping the half-time gap to one goal.
Strachan must be aware that, having progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League, his squad must cope with the challenges at home and abroad or see their sizeable advantage at the top of the Scottish Premier League disappear.
Sproule's 12th minute opener may have been an impressive finish but it also highlighted the champions' abject defending.
The Ulsterman lashed high past goalkeeper Artur Boruc after Celtic failed to deal with a routine cross from David Murphy.
Hibs doubled their lead and seemed to have sealed victory on 63 minutes as Thomson found space before prodding under Boruc.
Hibs have flattered to deceive in recent seasons and the problems that afflicted them under the previous manager, Tony Mowbray, returned as Sno and McGeady saved Celtic.
Sno fired into an empty net after Kenny Miller's cut-back before McGeady roused the subdued visiting support with a low drive from 18 yards.
Rangers climbed to second place in the table with a convincing 3-0 win over Kilmarnock to cut Celtic's lead to 13 points.
Rangers took the lead in the 22nd minute with Charlie Adam firing a shot into the top left from 16 metres before Kris Boyd hooked in the second five minutes later. Croatian striker Dado Prso added a goal in the 57th minute.
- Guardian Service
HIBERNIAN: Malkowski, Whittaker, Martis, Jones, Murphy, Scott Brown, Beuzelin (Glass 87), Thomson, Sproule (Stewart 78), Benjelloun, Fletcher. Subs not ued: McNeil, Hogg, Shiels, McCluskey, Shields. Booked: Jones, Benjelloun, Scott Brown, Thomson. Goals: Sproule 12, Thomson 63.
CELTIC: Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Lennon, Jarosik, Maloney (McGeady 61), Miller, Zurawski (Sno 46). Subs not used: McGovern, O'Dea, Wilson, Riordan, Pearson. Booked: Balde, Lennon, Jarosik. Goals: Sno 70, McGeady 74.
Referee: M McCurry(Scotland).
