Hibs setback followed by huge opportunity - fan view

On Saturday, Aberdeen came to Easter Road for their first visit of the season looking to avenge Hibs’ victory at Pittodrie in September. Of course, between the two games, Aberdeen had got the better of Hibs at Hampden to seal a place in the Viaplay Cup final.

Hibs were without both full backs, Jordan Obita missing through illness, while Lewis Miller was suspended following his red card against Dundee. Lewis Stevenson and Rory Whittaker were their respective replacements, but those changes aside, it was a familiar looking Hibs line-up.

Aberdeen clearly felt there was an opportunity to exploit Hibs full back positions, and they produced a strong attacking display throughout the match, with Hibs needing an inspired performance from David Marshall to keep a clean sheet. Marshall, though, wasn’t alone in producing a strong performance. Young Whittaker showed that he can cope at this level, and he was helped throughout the match by Josh Campbell, whose work rate often goes unnoticed.

Hibs took the lead following a long pass from David Marshall, which found Martin Boyle scampering through on goal. Having drawn Aberdeen goalkeeper, Kelle Roos, from his line, Boyle unselfishly rolled the ball to his left, where Dylan Vente slotted home to end his short goal drought.

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There was, of course, a lengthy VAR check before the goal was finally confirmed – quite why it took as long as it did, I don’t know as the replays showed that there wasn’t much doubt about the validity of the goal.

Aberdeen manager, Barry Robson, would later describe Marshall’s pass as both a “mis-hit” and a “freak” but it was a pass that the goalkeeper tried throughout the afternoon as Hibs and Robson’s words did the former Scotland keeper a huge disservice.

Hibs’ second came from the head of Will Fish, who met Martin Boyle’s corner at the back post to score his first goal of the season. It is fair to say that the goal came against the run of play. Aberdeen had been posing a constant threat to the Hibs goal, and they’ll look back on the game bewildered at how they’ve failed to score.

They did have the ball in the net in the second half, however that was pulled back for a clear foul on Marshall, and even the late award of a penalty wasn’t enough for the Dons, with Bojan Miovski seeing his spot kick saved by Marshall. It sort of felt inevitable by that point, Miovski had contrived to miss several chances and Marshall had employed what can only be described as some sort of witch-craft to protect his goal.

The full time whistle saw Hibs celebrate and Robson’s side leave frustrated – Aberdeen would expect to be challenging for third place, as do Hibs, and it’s huge credit to the home side that they’ve taken full points from two league matches against Aberdeen this season. Those points could be very important come the business end of the season.

On Wednesday night, Hibs travelled through to Glasgow to face Celtic. Dylan Vente missed out having taken a slight knock in the Aberdeen game. He was replaced by Elie Youan, while Lewis Miller came back into the team at right back.

Hibs couldn’t have got off to a worse start, the hosts opening the scoring in the opening minutes and, if truth be told, they never looked like doing anything other than winning comfortably from that point.

Montgomery’s side did play some good football as they grew into the game, Youan and Jair both had good chances to score before Celtic had an unassailable lead, however they squandered those chances and were punished for it.

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Celtic’s third game from the spot, VAR intervening to draw John Beaton’s attention to a challenge by Lewis Stevenson on Alistair Johnston. Having reviewed the incident, Beaton pointed to the spot and Celtic duly converted to put the game beyond reach.

There was a lot of debate about the award, I think from the angle the referee was shown, it looks like a penalty however Montgomery mentioned in his post match interviews that Johnston had told his players that there was no contact.

It would be unfair to say Celtic didn’t deserve the lead at that point, in the first half hour of the game in particular, they were excellent. Matt O’Riley and Callum McGregor were outstanding and didn’t give Hibs a moment’s rest.

By the time Christian Doidge scored a late consolation goal, Celtic had extended their lead after Oh Hyeon-gyu had outmuscled Will Fish, who will not be happy with his role in the goal, and fired past Marshall.

There were positives to take from the game, Hibs played some lovely football at times and, as has been the case since Montgomery took over, there continue to be signs of a style of play evolving and improving week to week.

Hibs mustn’t let the defeat knock their momentum. They face bottom side Livingston on Saturday and will see this as an ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways. Livingston have struggled this season and, so far, haven’t shown many signs of turning it around. If Hibs can impose their style of play on the game early then it could be a game that they dominate and win comfortably.

With Aberdeen facing Hearts, there’s a chance for Hibs to capitalise on either or both sides dropping points, which they’ll be hoping to take full advantage of.