Josh MulliganSNS

Josh Mulligan made it two goals in two games after his fine strike against Livingston on Sunday

At a glance

  • Hibs trail by a goal going into second leg of Conference League play-off

  • Josh Mulligan's late strike rescues poor performance against wasteful Legia Warsaw

  • Goals from Jean-Pierre Nsame and Paweł Wszolek had the Polish side cruising at Easter Road

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Josh Mulligan's late strike resuscitated Hibernian's hopes of progressing to the Conference League as they emerged from the first leg of their play-off with Legia Warsaw at Easter Road trailing 2-1.

For much of this game, it looked like David Gray's side's European adventure had run its course as they put in a tired-looking performance and found themselves two goals down.

Rocky Bushiri's first-half handball resulted in a penalty that Jean-Pierre Nsame smashed high into the net, before Pawel Wszolek added a second on the stroke of half-time.

And in a moment that could prove pivotal, Legia had a third ruled out in the second-half after a lengthy VAR intervention. Bartosz Kapustka had tucked home what looked to be a tie-ender, but Wszolek was offside earlier in the build-up.

That lifeline buoyed Hibs and swung momentum back in their favour for the first time since the opening 10 minutes.

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Mulligan was the beneficiary, getting onto a cross at the back post and reacting quickest when his initial shot was blocked to poke it under the keeper.

It could have easily gone another way, as Legia spurned a few golden chances to wrap the game up at 3-0.

Vahan Bichakhchyan missed the best of them, as he skied over from the back post when he was completely unmarked. Nsame missed another.

But Hibs were also guilty of missing a couple of sitters. Bushiri headed over and Thibault Klidje glanced wide from one of a series of Chris Cadden deliveries.

Come the end of the game in Warsaw, Hibs could still come to rue those chances but at the moment, Mulligan has given hope to his side.

Hibs analysis: No excuse for tired legs after rotation

The line-up against Livingston in the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday was the first time David Gray had rolled the dice and rested some of his European XI.

Those who missed out all came back in, but a tiredness haunted the starters at Easter Road as they struggled to get their second wind after a fast start.

The opening of the game was very physical, with Josh Campbell and Kieron Bowie wearing sore ones early on. It took the wind out of Hibs' sails and allowed Legia to get a foothold.

Hibs' haven't found themselves behind too often in recent times, but the experience of coming back against Partizan must have been in their minds as they grew in confidence towards the end of the game.

There were plenty of chances missed, so they go to Warsaw knowing they can cause problems for Legia, but they must be far more clinical if they are to make it to the group stage of a European competition for the very first time.

Reaction to Hibs' defeat on the Scottish Football Podcast

21/08/25

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What they said

Hibernian head coach David Gray: "This tie is very much still alive. We've already said to the players that we went to Midtjylland, we went to Partizan, and had huge performances and results. We're going to need to do that again.

"It's big moments in the game. To goal just before half time was a poor goal. You can talk about the penalty but we're not going to do that. We can't affect that now.

"Clearly the one that's the factual one on the offside was a big moment in the game. If that goes 3-0, it's a very different night.

"I thought we had really good, clear-cut chances and should have done better with them. But I've just reminded the players that we've gone toe-to-toe with a team that went to the quarter-finals of the competition last season."

What's next for Hibernian?

Hibs exercised their right to postpone this weekend's Premiership game with Falkirk, giving them more time to recover for the second leg of this clash.

That takes place next Thursday at Stadion Wojska Polskiego (20:00 BST).

Where next?

Player of the match

J. Mulligan
7.04
20 J. Mulligan
7.04
14 M. Chaiwa
6.84
19 N. Cadden
6.39
5 W. O'Hora
6.32
23 J. Hoilett
6.32
33 R. Bushiri
6.31
9 K. Bowie
6.28
18 T. Klidje
6.16
21 J. Obita
5.96
12 C. Cadden
5.84
17 J. McGrath
5.63
13 J. Smith
5.62
10 M. Boyle
5.60
15 J. Iredale
5.44
6 D. Levitt
5.19
32 J. Campbell
4.58
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