Celtic 2 - 0 Hibs: Celtic refuse to let title slip from grasp

CELTIC'S victory ensured that, in all likelihood, the outcome of the Premier League championship will be determined on the last day.

It is not only an entirely appropriate climax to an engrossing, season-long joust, but one for which yesterday's winners and Rangers would surely have settled at various stages of a fluctuating campaign.

The goals from Stephen McManus and Scott McDonald which stretched Celtic's lead to four points, with their rivals having played two matches fewer, were the most rewarding moments from a match in which Hibernian had their two full-backs, Martin Canning and Ian Murray, ordered off in the last eight minutes.

These occurrences were welcomed almost as enthusiastically as the goals by a home support constantly perched on the edge. Especially at this climactic stage of a season, imperatives dictate the atmosphere of football matches and, in the win-or-fall circumstances in which this one was played, it was no surprise that the home supporters' yearning to acclaim the goals that would secure the points in the first ten minutes was almost palpable.

That they should have to wait until the 37th for McManus's opener and the 87th for McDonald's pressure-relieving clincher – and see their side survive one or two genuine threats as well as perpetrate some misses of their own in between – would merely intensify the sense of anxiety.

Every near thing, at either end, produced the kind of squeals of anguish for which otherwise bit-part Hollywood actresses would earn good money for horror film voice-overs.

This overwhelming urge to see the job done would doubtless blind many to the enjoyment any neutral would have derived from watching a match which was well contested, Hibernian clearly as intent as Celtic on winning, with the visitors' incentive – to finish third and qualify for next season's Uefa Cup – as powerful as Celtic's to win the championship itself.

Any presumption of imbalance would have been dispelled with Hibs' first concerted attack, which was executed before Celtic brought any concern to the visiting defenders. John Rankin's chip towards the home penalty area was headed on by Steven Fletcher to Deans Shiels.

The midfielder brought the ball under control on the left side of the box and sternly tested Artur Boruc with a ferocious drive, the big goalkeeper forced to leap and palm the ball over the crossbar.

Mixu Paatelainen having deployed his team in a 4-5-1 formation that could, in an instant, be transformed into 4-3-3 – with the wide players, Filipe Morais and Ross Campbell joining the nominal lone striker, Fletcher – the visitors' forward surges when the opportunity arose should have surprised no-one.

But, before and after McManus scored, Celtic would look the more menacing and consider themselves a little unfortunate not to have extended their advantage by the interval. Nothing could have gone closer without finding the net than the marvellous, curling, 25-yard free kick from Shunsuke Nakamura which struck the inside of Andy McNeil's left-hand post and bounced out.

Nakamura would have been gratified a little earlier, when the goal came from another of his set pieces. It was a corner kick from the left and McManus's header from six yards may have been unseen through the mass of bodies by McNeil, as the ball crossed the line to his right.

Given the generally pleasing entertainment level of the event, few could have anticipated the series of occurrences in the second half that would leave a distorted impression of the spirit in which it was played. There had been a notable absence of misbehaviour until Canning's dismissal, followed by Murray nine minutes later.

The big defender's charge and swing at Robson, as the latter carried the ball past two opponents, was reckless and might have caused his opponent serious damage had he made proper contact. Having already been cautioned for a trip on McGeady, the second yellow made his walk automatic.

Murray, normally one of the least feverish players in the game, seemed to have an uncharacteristic aberration when he took out McGeady wide on the right with a fierce swipe of his left foot and received a straight red card for deliberate violent conduct.

The former Rangers' player's loss, sustained as it was literally seconds from the finish, made no difference to the outcome, but Canning's removal arguably reduced to nothing Hibs' prospects of an equaliser. They had shown enough enterprise throughout the second half to suggest that such an outcome was within their scope.

It is difficult to remember when Boruc was last kept so busy, including the recent visits from Rangers. The goalkeeper's work included one stop from Guillaume Beuzelin and two from substitute Clayton Donaldson that were brilliant examples of his quickness and conviction, on each occasion the shots and headers coming from close range.

At the other end, McNeil was similarly defiant at times, but was left helpless when Robson's free kick from the right was glanced towards the back post by Donaldson, falling perfectly to allow McDonald to head over the line from eight yards. It was the moment the Celtic players and their fans knew the lap of honour at the end of this final home match would command a full house.

Celtic: Boruc; Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor; Nakamura, Hartley, Robson, McGeady; McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink. Substitutes – M. Brown, Samaras, S. Brown, Balde, Caddis, Donati, Sheridan.

Hibernian: McNeil; Canning, Hogg, Jones, Murray; Morais, Shiels, Beuzelin, Rankin, Campbell; Fletcher. Substitutes – Makalambay, Kerr, Donaldson, O'Brien, Gathuessi, Chisholm, Nish.

Paatelainen annoyed by red cards and lack of a clinical finish

THE disappointment felt by Hibernian as their chances of finishing ahead of Motherwell evaporated was deepened by the orderings-off of their two full-backs, Martin Canning and Ian Murray, in the closing stages' of yesterday's 2-0 defeat at Celtic.

Mixu Paatelainen, the Easter Road manager, had no complaints about the red cards, and admitted that his players lacked the penetration required to take something from the match.

"I didn't get a good view of the first one, involving Canning," said Paatelainen, "but I was going to take him off when my coach, Donald Park, said, 'Don't bother, he's being sent off'.

"As for Ian Murray, he has enough experience to know better than to make a challenge like the one he did on (Aiden] McGeady. If he wants to stop the opponent to hold up the play, he knows he doesn't have to resort to what he did. He can do it without the kind of tackle that brings a red card."

"We passed the ball well and again, like last week (against Rangers], we didn't take our chances. I am disappointed to miss out in Uefa Cup, but when I came to Hibs in January, I thought Dundee United and Motherwell were too far ahead so it's a bonus that we managed to challenge them. I think we deserve credit for that."

Scott McDonald's 31st goal of the season not only helped to preserve Celtic's prospects of retaining the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League championship, but honoured a pledge to his former Motherwell team-mates to secure the victory over Hibs that would confirm the Fir Park side in third place and their qualification for next season's Uefa Cup.

Now the Australian striker, revelling in an extraordinary first season at Parkhead, expects nothing less than a return of the favour when Motherwell face Rangers at home on Saturday. Anything less than victory for the Ibrox side would give the title holders an edge before the final round of matches on 22 May. Now four points ahead, with Rangers having played two matches fewer, Celtic's 2-0 win kept their advantage on goal difference to eight.

"I got a lot of texts from my old mates at Motherwell telling me to do them a favour," said McDonald. "I'm really very pleased for them, because they have worked so hard all season to reach their target. But now I want them to pay me back by taking something off Rangers.

"I wish Rangers all the best in the Uefa Cup final, but not in the league. This has been a fantastic first season for me at Celtic and I've enjoyed every minute of it, working with outstanding team-mates. But winning the championship would obviously be the perfect end."

For Gordon Strachan and all but a handful of the 50,000-plus crowd at Celtic Park yesterday, McDonald's 87th-minute goal, complementing the first-half opener from Stephen McManus, was an immense relief.

Strachan said. "It was a really good game, end-to-end, at times like basketball. But, trust me, at this stage of the season, it's all about results. I've heard some guff spoken about how football should be played with beauty and finesse and we will try to give performances like that. But, believe me, right now, results are all that matters."