Scott Brown was a doubt before the game but led out the team and he was instrumental in brushing Hibs aside with 2 second half goals and a leaders performance. Ryan Christie was on the bench ( as Neil Lennon looks ahead to Lazio) which handed Tom Rogic a starting place ( Christie replaced Rogic late in the game).
Celtic fans on social media had debated if Hatem El Hamed or Jeremie Frimpong should get the nod to start but in the end the manager picked youth over experience and Frimpong got his start. While Boli Bolingoli came back in after Moritz Bauer started against St. Mirren in midweek.
The Celtic fans were in full voice for the 90 minutes and we were denied a stone wall penalty just before Mo Elyounoussi pin point header opened the scoring. Callum McGregor slotted home the second after Odsonne Edouard set him up. Claims of offside were ignored by the officials and we got a bit of justice for the penalty denied.
Hibs got back into the game to make it 2-1 when Hallberg put one past Frazer Forster and it seemed to bring the Hibs fans to life and for the first time they could be heard loudly getting behind their team. Celtic continued to push forward and both Mo and James Forest were denied by the post before Mo struck his second on the stroke of half-time.
Johnny Hayes replaced Boli at the start of the second half and Scott Brown scored number 4 before the hour mark and some Hibs fans had seen enough and headed for an early exit, those who stayed were rewarded with a fight back after Kamberi hit the target to make it 4-2. Neill Lennon changed to 3 at the back with the introduction of El Hamed and the withdrawal of Forest.
Hibs pushed on and made a game of it but Scott Brown had the last word on 90 minutes scoring number 5 with a little help from Man of the Match Mo Elyounoussi.
5-2 – Happy Hoops and Cup Final to look forward to before Christmas
Roll On Rome
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Andrew started More than 90 Minutes in 2001. He has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic. One of his essays featured in Celtic Minded 2 and he is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of Celtic AM pre-match events at Malone’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.
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