Hibernian 0-3 St Mirren: Visitors ease to victory over lacklustre hosts
- Published
Alex Gogic's opener sent St Mirren on their way to victory
St Mirren "expected to win" said manager Stephen Robinson after his side took advantage of Hibernian's horrendous first half showing to ease to a 3-0 win at Easter Road.
The visitors' impressive win condemned the Edinburgh side to a sixth Scottish Premiership game without a win.
Former Hibs midfielder Alex Gogic opened the scoring with a powerful header after just eight minutes.
Greg Kiltie netted from the spot after debutant Nectarios Triantis was adjudged to have handled, before Mikael Mandron turned in a Caolan Boyd-Munce corner before half-time.
Stephen Robinson's side remain in fifth place, one point behind Kilmarnock, and six ahead of Hibs, who stay seventh albeit with a game in hand.
"We come here and expect to win, as a group of players and staff," said Robinson, whose side picked up back-to-back away wins for the first time since February 2023.
"It shows you how confident the players are at this moment and time, and we'll go into Wednesday's game with the same application."
While Hibs' creators and finishers were drawing boos from the furious Easter Road support, it was the backline that continually cost the hosts in the first 45.
Rory Whittaker and Will Fish were beaten easily in the air by Gogic for the opener, with the Cypriot midfielder heading in from Boyd-Munce's tidy cross.
Positioned in between the bested pair for the opener was deadline day arrival Triantis, who very much had a debut to forget.
First, the Sunderland loanee was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box, allowing Kiltie to net from the spot with a low, central strike.
Then, on the cusp of half-time, the Australian centre-back let Mandron brush past him at the back post, with the forward effortlessly turning in Boyd-Munce's deep corner delivery.
Nick Montgomery made three changes at the break, including the introduction of debutants Nathan Moriah-Welsh and Eliezer Mayenda. The alterations stopped the rot but failed to improve matters.
The hosts continually struggled to lift crosses off the ground, complete simple passes or defend with any semblance of confidence and, with that, lost a large amount of their seething support by the full-time whistle.
Player of the match - Caolan Boyd-Munce (St Mirren)
Caolan Boyd-Munce (right) celebrates the first of his two assists that helped St Mirren to victory. A fine performance from the Northern Irish midfielder throughout.
Newcomers need time Hibs don't have - analysis
The only silver lining for Hibs was the performance of debutant Moriah-Welsh, who proved better than the ten outfielders who started the game. However, the other new faces failed to endear themselves to the Easter Road faithful.
It is not harsh to say that Hibs looked utterly hopeless in all facets of their play in the first half, with their failure to complete medium-length passes, lift crosses into the air or beat their opposition in the air inside their own box costing them.
The hapless Hibs attack failed to take a single shot in the first half. And even after taking aim on occasion immediately after the interval, there was a 30-minute period of the second 45 where the hosts failed to test Zach Hemming.
Stephen Robinson's side deserve credit for their effortless performance, though. The visitors could only beat what was in front of them and a ruthless St Mirren put the game to bed by the break.
Boyd-Munce stood out for his assists, but there were impressive performances all over the park for the Paisley side.
St Mirren's greatest strength was their actual strength. The physically-imposing visitors won the majority of their aerial duels, including Gogic for his opener, while Mandron's power was evident as he brushed Triantis aside to net the third.
What they said
Hibs 'lacked fight and desire' in St Mirren defeat
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "Another fantastic away performance. That's two in a row we have scored three and haven't conceded. I thought from start to finish we were excellent.
"I thought we controlled the game. We were very good. We switched the ball lots of times and could have scored more. It speaks volumes that Zach did not have a save to make."
Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery: "It's disappointing. I apologise to the fans for that first half. The lack of competing, the lack of fight. They outfought us. We deserved what we got today - and that was nothing.
"We accept responsibility as a collective. That was not good enough. We lacked fight and desire. That was nowhere near the performance I expect or the level of performance the players can deliver."
What's next?
Hibernian host Celtic (20:00 GMT) and St Mirren welcome Dundee (19:45) on Wednesday.