Postpublished at 37mins
Celtic 0-0 Hibernian
After a promising little spell, it is back to Hibs struggling to have any possession of the ball.
Celtic continue to probe, albeit they have only had one effort on target.
At a glance
Celtic drop points for second time in six games
Iheanacho effort disallowed and several other chances spurned
Resolute Hibs hold firm for point
Celtic dropped Scottish Premiership points for the second time this season - and slipped to second place in the table - as they were held to a stalemate by a stuffy Hibernian.
The point extends David Gray's unbeaten league run, with this a fourth successive draw in an unbeaten start to their league campaign.
A point here in Glasgow would seem a significant boost, too, after they failed to capitalise in recent fixtures.
Brendan Rodgers opted to start Japan forward Daizen Maeda on the right, looking to find a solution to his front-three conundrum, with Kelechi Iheanacho starting centrally.
They looked sharp early on, and another big goal looked odds on for the Nigerian striker when, after a wonderful break, Maeda played him in but his shot struck the crossbar.
Marcelo Saracchi had the same outcome from a tight angle, and Callum McGregor was then denied, as Celtic continued to be frustrated.
It was Hibs who ought to have gone ahead, though, when Kieron Bowie nodded a free-kick into Warren O'Hora's path, but he somehow scooped over from a few yards.
Hibs then showed resistance throughout the second half, blocking shots and staying solid.
Iheanacho looked to have broken through but was deemed just offside, then he couldn't connect with Saracchi's centre when a goal looked certain.
Celtic reinforcements arrived. Paulo Bernardo was thwarted by Raphael Sallinger and Johnny Kenny, twice, nodded over from great positions as Hibs held on for a point.
Not the outcome Celtic wanted on their return home after five games on the road.
This stalemate will, no doubt, add to fan anger over a lack of recruitment in the forward line. That said, they had enough chances and were very unlucky at times.
Celtic have struggled to score, particularly in the first half of Premiership games. Just one of their eight goals have come in the opening 45.
No shots on target until the 39th minute here answers that, to a degree, although they did hit the bar twice before that and got into some great positions.
Hibs couldn't keep much possession or get up the pitch as Celtic hemmed them in. But what a heroic defensive performance.
Players were so committed, throwing themselves to get blocks in. That answered some criticism of their back line.
They played with a high degree of stability and ought to have gone ahead just before half-time after riding their luck more than once.
Celtic return to Europa League action at home to Braga on Thursday (17:45 BST), before welcoming Motherwell next Sunday (15:00).
Hibs have the small matter of a trip across Edinburgh to face high-flying Hearts next Saturday (17:45).
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
| |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| |
6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 8 |
| |
6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| |
6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| |
7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 6 |
| |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 5 |
| |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | -5 | 5 |
| |
5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 9 | -9 | 1 |
|
Manager: Brendan Rodgers
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: David Gray
Formation: 5 - 3 - 2
Manager: Brendan Rodgers
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: David Gray
Formation: 5 - 3 - 2
Scottish Premiership
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Celtic have won seven of their last eight games against Hibernian in all competitions, losing the other 2-1 in February last season in the Scottish Premiership.
Hibernian are winless in their last 22 visits to Celtic in all competitions (D4 L18) since a 2-1 victory in January 2010. Hibs have lost each of their last eight away games at Celtic, all by a 2+ goal margin.
Celtic have lost just two of their last 84 home league games (W71 D11), and just one of their last 31 (W27 D3), going down 2-3 to Rangers in March last season.
Hibernian have drawn six of their last seven league games (W1), drawing more games in the Scottish Premiership in 2025 than any other side (11). Indeed, with draws in each of their last four league games, they last drew five successive league matches in October 2019.
Only Dundee United (9) have recorded more fast breaks in the Scottish Premiership so far this season than Hibernian (8), while they’ve scored twice from their six shots from those situations, more than any other side.
Against Kilmarnock in their last league game, Celtic scored their third-latest winning goal (95:26) on Opta’s records in the Scottish top-flight (from 2013-14), after December 2021 v Ross County (96:06) and September 2023 v Motherwell (96:39).
This game ends a run of five successive away fixtures for Celtic, ending their longest run of successive matches not played at home since November-December 2018 (also 5), and longest specifically in away matches (excl. neutral venues) since April-May 2003 (also 5).
Seven of Celtic’s eight Scottish Premiership goals so far this season have come in the second half of games (88%), the highest proportion of any side this term. Indeed, three have come in the final 15 minutes of games, with only Hearts (4) scoring more in that period.