Hibernian 2-1 Motherwell

Florian Kamberi and Brandon Barker both scored their first Hibs goals as the home side held on to beat Motherwell.

Swiss striker Kamberi marked his debut with a powerful shot that flew in off the underside of the crossbar.

Barker then doubled the lead, slamming a shot high into the net early in the second half after a strong run from Martin Boyle.

With 12 minutes remaining, Curtis Main squeezed in a shot to set up a tense finish at Easter Road.

Neil Lennon's side remain fourth in the Premiership, pulling seven points clear of Edinburgh rivals Hearts, while 'Well, who lost for the first time in four games this year, stay sixth.

Kamberi, officially signed on loan from Grasshoppers Zurich earlier in the day, came within inches of a dream start to his Hibernian career.

Barker used his tremendous pace to force his way inside the Motherwell box and his cutback was cleared to the edge of the area where Kamberi was waiting.

His shot was net-bound only for defender Cedric Kipre to come sliding in to divert the ball over the crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Paul Hanlon met John McGinn's delivery and crashed a header against the back post.

Manager Neil Lennon joins in the celebrations after Florian Kamberi fired in the opener for Hibs

Kamberi, though, was not to be denied and duly found the net just before the half-hour mark.

He was involved in the build up when he chested the ball down for McGinn, who had his effort blocked but the ball broke back to Kamberi, who hammered home off the underside of the crossbar from 18 yards.

Motherwell spurned a chance to equalise when Allan Campbell found space 16 yards out but his effort drifted just wide of the target.

The visitors continued to push forward and Liam Grimshaw played in Campbell, but the midfielder slipped just as he was about to fire towards goal.

Hibernian made a change at the break with the ineffective Vykintas Slivka making way for Marvin Bartley and the visitors almost snatched an equaliser within 60 seconds of the restart.

Efe Ambrose was slack with a clearance, allowing the ball to be played into Campbell, but his half volley soared over the crossbar.

Main scored his third goal in three league matches for Motherwell

Hibernian then raced up the field and quickly extended their advantage. McGinn played the ball wide to Boyle who used his terrific pace to break away from the trailing Motherwell rearguard.

He cut the ball back to Barker, who cracked in a first-time shot on what was his 24th outing since joining on loan from Manchester City in the summer.

The home side had led 2-0 in the corresponding game earlier this season when the Steelmen clawed their way back to earn a draw. Stephen Robinson's men came close to reducing the deficit when Gael Bigirimana had a free header from a Chris Cadden cross but could not divert the ball on target.

However, Motherwell did manage to pull one back as Main shrugged off Hanlon and his shot from eight yards out on the angle squeezed through the legs of the advancing Marciano.

The goal gave the Steelmen a huge lift as the home defence looked rattled and Marciano was at full stretch to tip over a Main shot in stoppage time as the points stayed in the capital.

Post-match reaction:

Hibernian manager Neil Lennon: "The injuries [to Darren McGregor and Brandon Barker] curtailed our progress and we've had a heavy schedule. You could see there was fatigue there.

Were we hanging on? Maybe a little bit. I don't remember my goalkeeper making too many saves but you have to respect Motherwell, who are a very good side.

"Up until an hour, 70 minutes, we were very good. It's a massive win and it puts us comfortably into fourth place."

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson: "We'll play a lot worse than that and win football matches. For large periods I thought we were in control of the game.

"We had chances and we didn't take them. Hibs have some real quality at the top end of the pitch and they punished us.

"In an ideal world, if we got another striker in that would boost us. The longer it goes on, the less likely it looks."