CHAMPIONS CAUGHT COLD

Hibs turn up the heat on stuttering Celts as first-minute strike by Slivka paves way for easy victory

TO say that Celtic were humbled by Hibs barely begins to describe what happened at Easter Road yesterday. On a bitterly cold day in the capital, Scotland’s defending champions — Double Treble winners, with one leg of a third straight clean sweep already in the bag — suffered the kind of brutal exposure guaranteed to test their powers of recovery to the limit.

From back to front, technical area to tense post-match assessment, Brendan Rodgers and his men had their every weakness laid bare. Who knew there were quite so many?

Merely seeing their team so comprehensively conquered will be of concern to Celtic fans who have grown so accustomed to total domination of the domestic scene.

That the damage was done by a Hibernian team supposedly low on confidence, a side missing at least half-a-dozen key players, must have left the travelling fans ‘lucky’ enough to get tickets for this one in a state of shock.

They could have few complaints about the result. But plenty about virtually every single player in the day-glo yellow jerseys. Even a gripe or two about the gaffer.

A stunning team goal inside the opening minute gave Hibs the platform they so desperately needed against the champions, Vykintas Slivka applying the finish to a sweeping move.

And, on an afternoon when the visitors barely managed to stretch home keeper Ofir Marciano, a killer second from Flo Kamberi — his first goal since scoring at Celtic Park back in October — effectively sealed the deal.

For Rodgers’ men, this felt like more than just a missed opportunity to reclaim the league lead. More than just three points dropped.

Here was a performance that undermined confidence in the strength of the squad, with the lack of ready-and-able deputies for key starters never more apparent.

And it was also a showing that left Rodgers himself open to any number of criticisms. From formation to selection, instructions and substitutions, including changes that left his team playing without a recognised striker for the closing 15 minutes while desperately chasing a goal, the Celtic boss has to carry the can for his part in a dispiriting defeat.

On the most basic level, he was out-coached by Neil Lennon, whose name was being sung with gusto by the Hibs support long before the final whistle.

The former Celtic manager, confronted with a genuine injury crisis that left him short in almost every department, found a way to engineer a famous victory.

Missing seven potential first-team starters from the off, then losing goalscorer Slivka through injury at half-time, Lennon managed his resources superbly.

Forced to throw on someone with just five minutes of first-team experience to replace Slivka, his bold move to trust 20-year-old Sean Mackie more than paid off, the kid looking better than most of Celtic’s midfield.

The contrast with the visitors could hardly be more stark all over the pitch, with all of the best players in the home ranks.

Celtic’s back three of Kris Ajer, Filip Benkovic and Jozo Simunovic looked about as comfortable as Jean-Claude Juncker confronted by Theresa May in a foul humour.

Scott Brown spent the afternoon being pestered by Daryl Horgan, Olivier Ntcham brought nothing to the midfield party, Callum McGregor looked absolutely burst — and Scott Sinclair was lucky to last an hour before being hooked.

James Forrest, so brilliant on the wing, struggled manfully as a makeshift forward.

Which is more than could be said for Odsonne Edouard, who never seemed to be where a striker should — namely, attacking any number of tempting crosses — in the 73 minutes it took for Rodgers to have seen enough.

The Celtic boss is desperately short of striking power, with Leigh Griffiths’ unavailability further complicating a situation created by Moussa Dembele’s departure.

And he freely admits that, in an ideal world, he would have given Edouard much more rest than the young Frenchman has been granted this season.

But deciding that he’d rather play the closing stages of this game without any actual centre-forward on the pitch has to have hurt Edouard. Especially as he could have no complaints about being hooked.

In the season to date, Celtic had lost just once in seven previous Sunday afternoon fixtures following their Thursday night European adventures.

But it took only 46 seconds for Hibs to puncture any confidence the visitors might have brought with them to Edinburgh.

And what a move it was for the opening goal, starting with Steven Whittaker and Slivka himself playing their way out of the rightback position.

Emerson Hyndman then took possession and motored through the centre of the park with intent, before moving the ball forward to Oli Shaw. When the young striker’s intelligent cross-field pass found Slivka charging into the box without a marker, the danger was obvious.

Equally clear was that Simunovic, racing across to cover the threat, was always going to be beaten by a change of direction. Slivka duly cut inside to leave the centre-half desperately trying to pivot, before curling a low left-footed shot past the despairing Craig Gordon.

Total football? As close as it gets on a cold December day in Scotland.

Celtic had plenty of the ball after that earliest of openers, Lennon later admitting that he expected a ‘tidal wave’ in response.

But Hibs never looked like being swept away. They weren’t troubled when a bit of pressure might have caused them to doubt, they possessed the most effective defenders on the park in Lewis Stevenson and Ryan Porteous — and they looked capable of causing havoc on the break.

That was never more obvious than for the second goal just before the hour mark, as a passage of play that began with Ntcham’s free-kick against the defensive wall ended in a rocket finish from Kamberi.

Between a poor dead-ball effort and brilliant goal, Stevenson simply bullied Sinclair off the lose ball, before young Mackie delivered a stunning cross-field pass for Kamberi to control with his chest and beat Gordon.

There were brief moments of promise for Celtic. Flashes of something almost happening.

But they were second best. And, on an afternoon when they might have put themselves back on top, they could have few complaints about a defeat that leaves them sitting third.