Celtic come from behind to beat Hibs and restore four-point lead
Camilo Duran scored his 10th goal of the season after a Jason Kerr own goal cancelled out Owen Elding's early opener at Easter Road.
Easter Road, home of Hibernian. File photo. · Photograph: Jeff Winter (CC BY 3.0)
Celtic recovered from an early setback to beat Hibernian 2-1 at Easter Road and restore their four-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The win came a day after Rangers had closed the gap to a single point with a 4-0 victory over St Johnstone, and it bounced Martin O'Neill's side back from their Europa League defeat by Celta Vigo on Thursday.
Early shock
Hibs went ahead after just two minutes. Joe Newell, a late addition to the starting line-up after illness ruled out Martin Boyle, took a quick free-kick and Owen Elding lashed the ball home.
The lead lasted only two minutes, as Hibs defender Jason Kerr headed a Celtic corner into his own net.
Thibaut Klidje was unable to keep a lob down after more slack defending from the hosts, but shortly before half-time Camilo Duran swept in a loose ball from the edge of the box for what proved to be the winner. It was the striker's 10th goal of the season.
Second half
Mika Baur tested Hibs goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger from distance as Celtic tried to put the game to bed, while Cameron Carter-Vickers made a late block to deny Josh Mulligan an equaliser.
The result means Celtic have won nine of their 10 league matches this season.
Hibs' troubles
Hibs remain a point adrift at the bottom of the table and have not won a league game in two months. New manager Marink Reedijk has now lost all three of his matches in charge.
They travel to St Mirren on Wednesday before facing Hearts in the Edinburgh derby League Cup semi-final at Hampden next Sunday. Newell's performance was one positive, with the midfielder impressing over 76 minutes after limited game time.
O'Neill also revealed that defender Alistair Johnston felt discomfort again, raising fresh fitness concerns.