Hibs instant analysis as Celtic escape with late victory

Adam Idah converted his second penalty of the match in the 91st minute after Joe Newell was ruled to have fouled Kyogo Furuhashi. The incident was not picked up by on-pitch referee, but he awarded a penalty after being beckoned to the pitchside monitor. Hibs had acquitted themselves far better than in Saturday's 3-0 defeat, with a sumptuous Dylan Levitt strike cancelling out Idah's first penalty, awarded after Nectar Triantis clashed heads with Alistair Johnston.

Defeat will sting for Nick Montgomery and his players - not least considering a string of second-half chances went begging - but they produced a display from which to inspire a recovery from recent struggles. 

Liam Bryce and Patrick McPartlin were at Easter Road to provide the instant analysis.

Cruel on Hibs

Hibs didn't deserve that. Montgomery's team more than competed with a Celtic side that looked badly out of sorts for much of the second half. After Levitt's goal, the champions were rattled, and fortunate to escape going behind as Maolida's overhead kick was well kept out by Joe Hart. A Lewis Miller chance went begging, and even Will Fish got himself into the box to shoot wide from Elie Youan's cutback. Having been accused of not putting bodies on the line enough at the weekend, Hibs downfall here, in a cruel irony, came about from players actually just being that too committed. Triantis' penalty concession was an honest attempt for the ball, but he mistimed and clattered into Alistair Johnston, who had to be stretchered off.  The second was Joe Newell throwing himself in front of a Kyogo shot and being adjudged to have fouled the striker on the 18-yard line. It was late from the captain, but cruel on Hibs, and not what they deserved for a gutsy and much-improved display compared to Saturday's horror show. Nobody at Easter Road will be celebrating a defeat, but there's something to build on with this.

Liam Bryce

Montgomery gets a reaction

Montgomery’s post-match assertion that Hibs had been ‘outfought and outcompeted’ by St Mirren was a damning indictment of how meek the performance had been, but the return of Lewis Miller and acquisition of Nathan Moriah-Welsh should, on this showing, ensure that doesn’t happen again.

Together the pair filled something of a Bash Brothers role on the right side, with Miller in particular showing no signs of an Asian Cup hangover as he thundered into challenges and rampaged up the flank to support the attack.

Moriah-Welsh had already been praised for his display at the weekend - one of, if not the only bright spot from Saturday - and his performance against Celtic suggested that Hibs have done well to get him on a permanent deal, and also explains why many Bournemouth fans seemed a bit nonplussed at the decision to sanction a permanent exit. Whether or not the link up with Cherries owner Bill Foley could see the Guyana internationalist head back to the south coast at some point remains to be seen but in the meantime, he is a Hibs player and on his early showings, appears to be exactly the type of midfielder the team has been missing for a good few seasons. He has that chippy nature as well and was regularly in the referee’s ear about his decision-making which, while occasionally an easy way of ending up in the official’s notebook, is something else Hibs have been missing. 

His all-action performance meant the absence of Emi Marcondes was perhaps not as keenly felt as it might have been. In fairness though, Hibs competed across the park. Montgomery called for a reaction from his players, and he got one. The way the game ended was about the biggest kick in the teeth possible. 

Patrick McPartlin

Beauty from Levitt

What a hit from the Welshman, and it might just be what he needs to restore a bit of belief in himself. For much of this match, he projected the image of a player whose confidence has taken a battering of late. He has been among the most criticised of late - and there have been a fair few - and seemed to be slipping into one of those ruts where nothing was going his way. There were times on the night where you could almost see him overthinking his next move on the ball, the telltale sign of a player whose game just isn't flowing. But when it dropped to him from Joe Newell's free-kick, he didn't need to think, he didn't have time to. One swing of his right boot was all it took as the ball zipped low into the bottom corner beyond the sprawling Joe Hart. It would be premature to waffle on about this potentially being a season-turning moment for Levitt, but it should serve him a reminder of what he's capable of, and, perhaps, the merits of getting him closer to the opposition goal.

Liam Bryce

Young backline stands up

Even if Nick Montgomery hadn’t wanted to play a central defensive partnership of Will Fish and Nectar Triantis, Paul Hanlon’s ongoing illness essentially forced his hand. The pair endured a 90 minutes to forget against St Mirren and when Triantis gave away an early penalty for a foul on Alistair Johnston, it looked like it might be the start of a long night for the home side.

But both shrugged off a shaky start and grew into the game, putting in individual and collective performances that belied their tender years. Montgomery backed Triantis to bounce back from what could be termed a debut to forget and barring that early hiccup, showed signs of why he was the club’s first pick for a new centre-back during the January window.

It is early days of course; one swallow doesn’t make a summer. But against the reigning champions, they both performed well and generally stood up to the threat of Adam Idah and Kyogo Furuhashi. 

Patrick McPartlin