Hibernian vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.
Easter RoadAttendance17,374.
Mach report as Celtic are held to 0-0 draw by Hibernian at Easter Road; Liel Abada wasted chance in first half while Matt Macey denied winger with excellent save in second period; Hoops remain three points clear of Rangers in Scottish Premiership
Monday 28 February 2022 19:50, UK
Ange Postecoglou was adamant he was happy with Celtic's performance even though they struggled to create clear chances in a goalless draw at Hibernian.
The Hoops remain ahead of Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership but they missed an opportunity to crank up the heat on their city rivals with what was widely deemed to be a lacklustre display at Easter Road.
However, manager Postecoglou insisted all that was missing from his team was a goal even though they toiled to open up a well-organised Hibs defence.
"It was a good performance," he said.
"We dominated the game, we played it on our terms, but obviously we didn't get our rewards and didn't get the goal we needed.
"But in terms of the performance I thought the players, at a difficult venue on a difficult pitch with the opposition sitting deep for the most part, were good.
"Yeah, it's hard when the opposition sit so deep. There are so many bodies in the box to try and find ways through.
"There were a couple of times when the ball just didn't bounce our way in critical areas. But I thought the players' efforts were excellent."
Postecoglou's table-topping side were looking to make it nine league victories in succession but struggled to create clear chances against their well-organised hosts as they missed the opportunity to put extra pressure on second-placed Rangers.
The result means Shaun Maloney's side have taken seven points from their last three Premiership games and sees them leapfrog Dundee United into fourth place.
Hibs' total of just two shots - neither of which were on target - showed how cagey the game was and they limited Celtic to just a handful of chances.
That being said, Liel Abada should have done better in the 14th minute when Jota played him in down the right with an excellent pass that drew Matt Macey out of his goal, but the winger could only lob his effort wide of the near post.
Macey came racing out again in the 39th minute to smother the ball at Daizen Maeda's feet before tipping over Josip Juranovic's bending free-kick in first-half stoppage time.
The second half followed a familiar pattern, with Celtic - who had won 18 of their last 20 Premiership fixtures - struggling to create many openings.
Hibs were handed a scare just after half-time when Ryan Porteous hacked at a Reo Hatate cross and his clearance just bounced wide of his own goal, before Macey denied Abada with a stunning save after Greg Taylor's pull back.
But that was about as threatening as Celtic got and they eventually resorted to swinging crosses - 40 in total - into the Hibs area in a desperate attempt to put pressure on their opponents.
Hibs did manage to threaten themselves before the final whistle when Josh Doig dribbled from the halfway line into the Celtic area, but he could only scuff his effort wide of the near post, after which he and his team-mates knuckled down to hold on for a well-earned point.
It wasn't all good news for Hibs, though, as Kevin Nisbet - their second top scorer this season - was forced off during the first half after a tackle by Carl Starfelt, and the striker was pictured sitting in the stands with a brace on his knee during the second period.
Shaun Maloney expressed his concern for Kevin Nisbet when questioned about the striker's condition after the game, saying: "Doesn't look good.
"It wasn't a good challenge. I understand that they try to stop counter-attacks very quickly.
"I really hope it's not too bad but at the moment it doesn't look too positive."
The manager was more upbeat about his side's performance, though, saying: "My team showed incredible fight. They had to dig in at the end, they had to defend extremely hard. Really, really proud of the team today.
"In the first half we played more, in the second half we had to defend for long periods and had the character and mentality to never give up. It was a big test today for a very young team and they passed it.
"When you look at the substitutes and some of the work the attacking players had to do, we'd have loved to have changed things after 60, 65 minutes to get higher up, but we had to keep players on the pitch and they gave us almost everything.
"That meant that we got deeper and deeper. We still had a slight counter-attack threat, but maybe not quite as much as we'd have hoped. But I can't criticise anything, I thought my players were fantastic today."
Celtic are at home to St Mirren on Wednesday night as part of a full Scottish Premiership card, Hibernian are away to Dundee.
