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Quick Review

The match got under way in front of a decent crowd, despite the terrible winter conditions that threatened the game, with an admirable turn-out from Celtic fans ensuring a roaring atmosphere.
And it was Celtic, without talismanic striker John Hartson because of a hamstring injury, who had the first chance of the match when his replacement Shunsuke Nakamura curled a free-kick narrowly wide. However, that merely preceded a sustained spell of pressure from Hibs, as they took control.
Chris Killen appeared to have given Hibs the lead until the intervention of the linesman's flag on seven minutes. Derek Riordan flicked the ball on and Killen lifted the ball home from 12 yards, only for the officials to rule him offside.
However, Hibs finally took the lead after 24 minutes when another weaving run from Sproule was brought to an end by Mark Wilson on the edge of the box and Riordan stepped up to curl the ball into the top right-hand corner.
Celtic shuffled their pack 10 minutes later, Stilian Petrov dropping into a more orthodox midfield role to combat Hibs' 4-5-1 formation. The change paid immediate dividends when Steven Whittaker was robbed in midfield by Roy Keane, the ball falling to Maloney, whose fine run clear was only stopped by Whittaker's scything tackle from behind. The full-back somehow escaped with a yellow card but Maloney picked himself up to fire home from the spot for an equaliser in the 36th minute.
All of a sudden, Celtic's passes were finding their targets, and Keane almost put them ahead before half-time, only for Simon Brown to save his well-hit drive from 12 yards.
The second half kicked off with a completely different feel to it and all of Hibernian's hard work was undone on the hour mark.
Nakamura's tame corner found Zurawski and the Pole flicked on to McManus, who celebrated signing a new deal with the Bhoys with a neat finish for his seventh goal of the season. And then, a minute later, Hibs were reduced to 10 men when home keeper Brown handled outside of the box with Zurawski racing clear, leaving referee Alan Freeland no choice but to give him a red card.
With the Bhoys looking to make their extra man count, Freeland handed them the golden opportunity to wrap up the victory when he gave them another penalty when Maloney was again felled by Whittaker (still no sign of a red card for him?). The decision appeared to be spot on but Maloney was denied a second when substitute keeper Zbigniew Malkowski flung himself to his left to palm away the winger's effort. The Pole also made fine saves from Petrov and then Zurawski in the closing stages to keep Hibs in it.

Triva

Maloney scored one and missed one from the spot, as he netted his 12th goal of the season.

Teams

Hibernian:-
Simon Brown, Whittaker, Caldwell, Smith, Murphy, Stewart, Thomson, Glass (Fletcher 69), Sproule, Killen (Dalglish 74), Riordan (Malkowski 62).

Subs not used:- Hogg, Konde, McCluskey, Shields.

Goal:- Riordan 24.

Booked:- Whittaker, Thomson.

Sent Off:- Simon Brown (61).


Celtic:-
Boruc, Telfer, Balde, McManus, Wilson, Nakamura (Pearson 80), Lennon, Keane, Maloney, Petrov, Zurawski.

Subs not used:- Marshall, Dublin, Thompson, Varga, Lawson, Wallace.

Goals:- Maloney 36 pen, McManus 60

Att:- 16,985

Ref: A Freeland.

Articles

• Match Report (BBC)
• Strachan hails Zurawski after win. (BBC)

Pictures

• Match Pictures