Celtic 1-1 Hibs

On the day Celtic were presented with the league trophy, the pre-party action was slightly disappointing as Celtic could only manage a draw against Hibs. Strachan fielded a full strength team but they unable to convert their dominance into goals in front of a crowd of over 60,000 at Celtic Park. The outcome was meaningless for Gordon Strachan's champions but the result ended their run of 10 consecutive league victories.

A quiet start saw both sides enjoy long periods of possession, but chances were few and far between. John Hartson was first to have an attempt at goal as he broke away from the Hibs defence after 14 minutes but the Welshman's low angled shot was smothered by Malkowski.

Celtic were almost punished for some slack defending following a McManus error when a loose ball broke to Derek Riordan however the strikers chip drifted narrowly wide of Boruc's right hand post.

Celtic were pressing for the opener as Zurawski lashed a 20 yard drive over the crossbar and Stephen McManus also headed over before the visitors grabbed a surprise and undeserved lead ten minutes from the interval. Fletcher collected a long ball from Glass and following confusion at the back with Boruc slow to advance, the teenager slipped the ball through the goalkeeper's legs. It was a stupid goal to conceed and the Polish keeper was furious with Telfer but the blame lies squarely at the feet of the keeper who was perhaps rusty following his rest.

Hartson squandered a chance to equalise immediately when he swiped wildly at a close range chance after Hibs skipper Gary Caldwell had misjudged an attempted clearance. Caldwell will be joining Celtic in the Summer but he wasn't particularly impressive today.

Strachan introduced Shaun Maloney after the break and inside the first minute the midfielder was inches away with a raking strike. Celtic were showing much more urgency and forced Chris Hogg to make a vital headed clearance to deny Hartson an open goal. Malkowski then had to look smart to stop a shot from the Welshman.

Hartson again was guilty of a bad miss when he headed wide of an open goal at the back post when Malkowski had failed to gather an excellent Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick. The Japanese playmaker had a impressive afternoon and was a constant danger to Hibs throughout.
Nakamura was later denied by a good Malkowski save after energetic full-back Mark Wilson had galloped forward to set him up.

Celtic finally got the deserved equalier with 15 minutes to go. Paul Telfer floated a good cross into the penalty area and Zurawski leaped unchallenged and direct a firm header into the corner of the net. It was his 16th league goal of the season and ensured a point.

Celtic pushed for a winner and forced Malkowski into a great save as he managed to turn away a 20 yard strike from Dion Dublin. As the minutes ticked away Malkowski produced the save of the match to keep out a point-blank header from Zurawski and ensure a share of the spoils. It was a bad miss from the Pole and his frustration was clear for all to see but it did not damper the great spirits inside the ground as Celtic were awarded their 40th league championship at full-time.


Celtic: (4-4-2)

Boruc

Telfer Varga McManus Wilson

Petrov(Maloney 45) Lennon Keane(Pearson 82) Nakamura

Hartson(Dublin 66) Zurawski

Subs Not Used: Marshall, Thompson, Wallace, McGeady


Hibs: Malkowski, Whittaker, Caldwell, Hogg, Murphy, Fletcher, Thomson (Shiels 70), Shields, Glass, Riordan (Benjelloun 62), Konde (Sproule 45)

Subs Not Used: Simon Brown, Murray, Konte, Dalglish.


Attendance: 60,047

Referee: K Toner