Celtic FC, the frontrunners of winning seventh successive Scottish Premiership title, had a massive test this afternoon when they travelled to Easter Road to contest Neil Lennon’s Hibernian. Lennon, a Celtic legend, has done a tremendous job as the Hibs boss who earned them a promotion last season and is now keeping it close with the Hoops alongside big guns Rangers and Aberdeen. Hibernian have already held Celtic in a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park back in late September and Brendan Rodgers was cautious ahead of the trip in order to avoid an unforeseen outcome.
The game, however, was expected to be a routine triumph for the Bhoys who came back stronger after a flat first-half and despite a two-goal lead, the Hibs came back stronger late in the game and managed to pull off a 2-2 draw at Easter Road.
Below are the Celtic FC players rated from their dramatic draw against Hibernian.
Craig Gordon: 5
Gordon was forced to make a decent stop by Martin Boyle in the first-half but failed to deny Efe Ambrose and Oli Show in quick succession who cancelled out a two-goal lead against the run of play.
Mikael Lustig: 6
Lustig had a glaring opportunity to break the deadlock in the first-half but he failed to keep his strike on target. Kept on making forward runs and combined well alongside James Forrest down the right-hand flank. Should have maintained defensive resilience towards the end when Hibs recovered a two-goal deficit.
Dedryck Boyata: 5.5
Was rusty at times while tackling and lost focus towards the end when the hosts scripted an incredible late comeback defying the odds.
Jozo Simunovic: 5
Started the game brightly but lost his composure towards the end and should have done a lot better on both occasions to avoid a late mishap.
Kieran Tierney: 6
The young Scotsman impressed with his forward runs, cut insides, link-up play alongside Scott Sinclair who tore the Hibs defence apart with tricky runs, dribbling and movements. But was left exposed defensively once again and it is high time the youngster start contributing more to his defence as much as he does in attack.
Olivier Ntcham: 7.5
Was excellent in the middle of the park. His passes and through balls forward were often creating menace in Hibs backline. His vision, range of passing and down the middle runs helped the Hoops to take command of the midfield battle. Was replaced by Stuart Armstrong in closing minutes.
Scott Brown: 7
Another strong and steady outing for the Hoops skipper who was combative, won back possession on several occasions and switched the game on the flanks using the width of the pitch.
James Forrest: 6
Forrest wasted a glorious opportunity in early minutes as he failed to beat past the Hibs custodian Ofir Marciano one-on-one and struck wide off the target. Made some decent runs, cut inside on a few occasions but could not continue his goal-scoring streak. Was replaced by Jonny Hayes towards the end.
Callum McGregor: 8
Linked up beautifully with fellow attackers up front and set it up for Sinclair to score his second of the afternoon. Worked hard, kept the moves flowing in Celtic’s attacking third.
Scott Sinclair: 9
Was ruthless in the second half and forced the Hibs custodian to make an outrageous stop before scoring twice in quick succession. Could have had his hat-trick but the third one was rightly ruled out off-side.
Odsonne Edouard: 5.5
Celtic’s hat-trick hero against Motherwell struck the woodwork in the second half seconds before Sinclair’s opener. Didn’t offer enough otherwise and was replaced by Moussa Dembele midway in the second half.
Substitutes
Moussa Dembele: 5
Made some swift movements inside the box since coming on as Edouard’s replacement, but failed to grab a winner for his side.
Jonny Hayes: NA
Came in place of Forrest. Played too little to warrant a rating.
Stuart Armstrong: NA
Came in place of Ntcham. Played too little to warrant a rating.
