Rare defeat at Easter Road | OneFootball

Scottish Premiership

Saturday, February 22, 2025

Easter Road, Edinburgh

HIBS…2

(Campbell 2 & 45 +4)

CELTIC…1

(Maeda 68)

After the efforts of Tuesday night’s match against Bayern Munich in Germany, Celtic suffered a 2-1 defeat today at Easter Road where they faced David Gray’s Hibernian.

The home side got off to the best possible start when they took the lead in the second minute of the match.

Nectar Triantis drove forward from midfield with the ball at his feet and slipped a pass to Josh Campbell who finished in to the bottom corner from inside the box.

And five minutes later, David Gray’s men almost doubled their lead when Keiron Bowie got a shot away inside the box, but Kasper Schmeichel made an excellent save to prevent the goal.

The Celts seemed to settle in to the game after Schmeichel’s save as they began to take control of possession and in the 12th minute Luke McCowan almost scored from a cross which was aimed towards the back post, but Jordan Smith was able to punch the ball behind for a corner.

As the first half progressed towards the 20-minute mark, the champions were forcing Hibs on to the back foot and both Nicolas Kühn and Adam Idah were able to get shots away in the box, which the Hibs defence were scrambling to block.

Alistair Johnston came close to equalising with just shy of half-an-hour gone but the Hibs’ keeper made a good save at his front post to deny the Canadian.

Johnston then had to receive treatment on the pitch 10 minutes later for a head knock which occurred at a Hibs corner, and the break in play allowed both sides to catch their breath for a few minutes.

As a result of Johnston’s treatment, there were four minutes added at the end of the first half and the Celts would have been hoping to sting Hibs late in the half by grabbing an equaliser before the break, but it was the home side who used the additional time to their advantage.

In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Campbell grabbed his second of the afternoon as his header from a cross in to the box crept in to the left-hand corner of the net, making it 2-0 to Hibs.

Brendan Rodgers made three changes at half time, replacing Greg Taylor, Luke McCowan and Adam Idah with Jeffrey Schlupp, Reo Hatate and Jota, as the champions looked to find a way back in to the match.

And from the start of the half, Celtic looked much livelier as they put the pressure on Hibs.

Callum McGregor had a shot at goal from the edge of the area a few minutes in to the second half and, given his scoring record so far this season, it wouldn’t have been a shock to see the net bulge, but, on this occasion, his effort crept just wide.

Hibs continued to carry a threat however and with 57 minutes gone, Kasper Schmeichel was called upon once again as he produced a top-quality save to deny Lewis Miller, who looked certain to score with a header at the back post.

The Celts pulled themselves back in to the game in the 68th minute when Jota found Reo Hatate on the edge of the box with a pass. The Japanese midfielder attempted to get a shot away which was deflected up in to the air.

It looked like the keeper might gather it, but the ever-dangerous Daizen Maeda nipped in before him and stuck the ball in the back of the net to halve the deficit.

And with 15 minutes to play, Jota almost scored a goal which would have gone down as one of his finest, when he ran from the Celtic half with the ball at feet, skipped by a Hibs defender and the goalkeeper and chopped the ball back towards goal, but unfortunately his effort was cleared off of the line and put behind for a Celtic corner.

Celtic continued to press forward and, with eight minutes left of the 90, it looked like Daizen had grabbed the equaliser, but after a VAR review, the decision was made to rule the goal out because the ball was judged to have drifted out of play in the build-up.

The Celts were unable to find the equaliser they were searching for as the game drew to a close, and Hibs took all three points. Next up for Celtic is a home match against Aberdeen on Tuesday night.

Fixtures

Hibernian Vs. Celtic - Sat, Feb 22nd 2025, 12:30