It’s glory for Hibs after Greek drama
Hibernian did their part to extend the feel-good factor around Scottish football by surviving a fraught night in Greece to progress through successive rounds in continental competition for the first time in 45 years.
it was a determined effort from neil Lennon’s men, with the final result all the more remarkable given they were 2-0 down at half-time in the first leg at easter road.
a pulsating comeback that night ensured they came to Greece with a slender 3-2 lead but when John McGinn opened the scoring for the visitors before the break, the omens looked good for the Scots. The evening improved further when Michael Manias was sent off for two bookings.
However, Tripolis pulled one back through Kosmas Tsilianidis and, despite Hibs’ numerical superiority, it was Savvas Pantelidis’ side who finished the second leg on the ascendancy, squandering several noteable chances against an excellent adam bogdan.
French referee benoit Millot’s final whistle was warmly greeted by the Hibs players and around 1,500 travelling fans as Lennon’s side set up a third qualifying round clash with norwegian side Molde.
UeFa, however, are likely to take a dim view of the flares, including one thrown on to the pitch following McGinn’s strike, and smoke bombs that were set off by the Hibs fans.
The significant pre-match team news for the visitors was that striker Flo Kamberi was deemed fit to start despite sitting out the previous evening’s training session due to a knee complaint.
The Swiss, whose right leg was heavily strapped, lined up alongside Martin boyle in attack as Lennon made one change from the first leg, with David Gray replacing Steven Whittaker.
in a ground named after venerated 18th century Greek general Theodoros Kolokotronis, Hibs began the match determined to hold their ground behind enemy lines.
Captain Gray was twice called upon in quick succession early on to make timely interceptions.
The right wing-back did well to clear a menacing cross from ioannis Kotsiras before the 2016 Scottish Cup-winning hero took the ball off the feet of Manias as the striker was about to shoot from inside the box.
The Leith side were struggling to retain the ball for any sustained period during the early jostling, although they fashioned the first meaningful opening in the 14th minute.
Vykintas Slivka’s deft pass found the unmarked boyle just six yards out but a poor first touch allowed Jose Luis Valiente to recover and block the shot.
Hibs kept up the pressure from the corner and boyle had a low drive from the corner of the box saved by Giorgos athanasiadis at the goalkeeper’s near post.
Watching on from the modest main stand, Hibs manager Lennon, who was serving the final match of his elongated UeFa ban, would have been relatively content by his side’s start. indeed, his team registered another shot on target in the 19th minute, albeit Stevie Mallan’s ambitious free-kick from 30 yards was easily held by athanasiadis.
a dramatic finish to the half saw Hibs draw first blood after riding their luck at the other end.
Defender Paul Hanlon prevented what would have been easy tap in for nikos Kaltsas at the back post with a headed clearance before Tsilianidis glanced a header off the bar from Giorgos Kiriakopoulos’ corner.
The visitors then stormed ahead one minute before the interval when Kamberi dispossessed the dithering Walter iglesias before setting McGinn free. The Celtic target forced a shot across the goalkeeper into the net to spark joyous scenes in the stand behind the goal.
Matters got even better for Hibs three minutes after the restart when Manias, just moments after having a shot blocked by bogdan, collected a second booking for a late challenge on Hanlon.
However, the hosts breathed fresh life into the tie by levelling on the night in the 56th minute.
Tsilianidis turned Darren McGregor outside the area and struck a low, left-footed drive beyond bogdan from 18 yards.
Hibs were rattled as asteras went about turning the tie in their favour. bogdan palmed a rising drive from Kotsiras over the bar before getting down to substitute Taso Douvikas’ header.
iglesias then headed wide from close range before frantic appeals for a penalty were waved away after Douvikas went down under a challenge from bogdan.
The Hibs keeper was his team’s saviour again in the 83rd minute with another save to deny Kotsiras — and the Scots were able to see the game out to cap another memorable european night.