Shaw grabs second-half equaliser to deny Celtic

Craig Gordon suggested on Friday that Hibernian were capable of establishing themselves as the second force in Scottish football. The Celtic goalkeeper was speaking ahead of a fixture schedule which had obligingly matched the Easter Road side with the three teams in front of them in the table and, by full time in the first instalment of this rigorous examination, Gordon was in a position to affirm that his proposition had been soundly based.

Only a few seconds before the final whistle, the Celtic keeper watched with profound relief as Mikael Lustig made a crucial block on the line to prevent a shot from Hibs substitute, Oli Shaw, finding the mark. Had that gone in, Celtic would have suffered their first domestic defeat since May 2016.

Instead, the Hoops’ extended their unbeaten record in successive domestic fixtures to 68, but Hibs can justifiably assert that no team has challenged Brendan Rodgers’ players more effectively in the current campaign. Celtic have conceded only a dozen domestic goals and the Easter Road men have scored half of them, in the east end of Glasgow, at Hampden Park and now on their own turf.

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That particular sward resembled a tundra in temperatures that never got as high as the freezing point all day in Edinburgh and although the Easter Road ground staff had taken all the appropriate precautions, including having covers on the pitch, frost was visible.

Rodgers made two changes from the team which lost 1-0 at home to Anderlecht in their final Champions League group stage tie last Tuesday with Olivier Ntcham replacing Stuart Armstrong and Odsonne Edouard coming in for Moussa Dembele.

The inclusion of the teenage Edouard, on loan from Paris St-Germain, was logical on the basis of his hat-trick in Celtic’s 5-1 romp against Motherwell the previous weekend but it probably galled Leigh Griffiths, sitting alongside Dembele on the bench, that he was not offered a chance to shine against his old club.

Hibs last beat Celtic five years ago to the month, with Griffiths scoring the only goal. For Hibs, meanwhile, Anthony Stokes led the line against his former team. When these sides met at Celtic Park in September Hibs achieved a 2-2 draw and although they lost in the Betfred Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, Neil Lennon’s players took two off the champions on that occasion, too.

This time, Celtic’s pressing tactics secured them no less than 75 per cent of early possession. Such dominance, though, compressed Hibs’ midfield and defence, so that Celtic were faced with nine men behind the ball on the approaches to Ofir Marciano’s goal.

Equally, Hibs’ attempts to relieve the pressure were frequently desperate and one utterly misjudged pass by Dylan McGeouch across his own penalty area should have been punished with the loss of the opening goal when James Forrest pounced on the error to break clear on Marciano. Instead, the winger pushed his effort wide when it looked easier to score.

Lustig did likewise when Forrest put him clear at the end of the half, by which Hibs had achieved some stability, mainly by virtue of an impressive performance from John McGinn, whose individual contest with Scott Brown was eye-catching. The home players had also been heartened by a close-range attempt by Martin Boyle which Gordon had

Cometh the hour, cometh the breakthrough. Scott Sinclair, below his best for much of the proceedings, had begun to look increasingly menacing but he helped contrive the opening goal with a swipe that was well off target but which found Edouard. The Frenchman’s shot smacked off the post and the rebound fell ideally for Sinclair to place it into the vacant net.

Three minutes later Sinclair doubled Celtic’s advantage, cutting past Steven Whittaker for a shot which clipped off Marvin Bartley and beyond Marciano. Sinclair thought he had achieved a hat-trick with 15 minutes left to play, but was flagged offside before his shot found the net.

Improbably, this proved to be the turning point for Hibs, who abruptly displayed the aggression and purpose that had eluded them, as exemplified by a well-worked short corner kick from which McGinn’s cutback allowed Whittaker an effort which rebounded to Efe Ambrose, who shot past Gordon.

Fuelled by adrenalin, Hibs drew level when Shaw, who had replaced Marvin Bartley, swivelled on to a cross from Lewis Stevenson to hook the ball into the net in the 79^th minute. The remainder of the contest was compelling and only Lustig’s superb anticipation stopped Shaw sealing what would have been a legendary victory for Hibs, who now meet Rangers at home and Aberdeen away.

If they emerge from those games with victories, Gordon’s claim for the Easter Road side will look plausible. One thing is certain, though – Rangers won’t try to lure Hibs’ manager to fill the vacancy at Ibrox.