Commons Double Fires Celtic To Brink Of The Title

Commons Double Fires Celtic To Brink Of The Title​

Celtic 3-0 Hibs
Scottish Premier League
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Saturday 6 April 2013
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Celtic moved to within a single point of retaining the Scottish Premier League title with a comfortable win over Pat Fenlon's Hibs. A Kris Commons double was the catalyst behind a result which effectively secured the title despite Motherwell's James McFadden scoring a late equalizer against St Mirren to postpone the party. Stuart McCall's side are 15 points behind with just 5 games remaining with a considerably lower goal difference; it would take a catastrophe of unimaginable proportion for Neil Lennon not to secure a second successive title.

Celtic went into this game having suffered some indifferent form throughout March, with a draw away to St Mirren last weekend being the latest slip up. Having appealed Victor Wanyama's red card from that game, the Kenyan was free to play against Hibs. Kris Commons also shrugged off the nasty looking ankle injury that saw him stretchered off in Paisley to start the match. Other changes saw Georgios Samaras and Beram Kayal making way for Anthony Stokes and Mikael Lustig as The Bhoys looked to wrap up the title.

The first ten minutes of the match drifted by with not much in the way of goalmouth action with the first attempt on goal a typically speculative effort from outside the box by Kris Commons which was easily saved by Ben Williams in the Hibs goal. Commons would not have long to wait as Celtic responded to Leigh Griffiths getting a shot in at Fraser Forster (albeit from an offside position) by opening the scoring in the fourteenth minute. Charlie Mulgrew found Gary Hooper who in turn laid the ball off for Commons who confidently stroked the ball to Williams' right to make it one nil to the Champions-elect.

Kris Commons celebrates opening the scoring​

Minutes later it should have been two as Hooper and Stokes combined to send the Irishman rampaging towards the Hibs defence. Stokes then laid the ball off for the onrushing Charlie Mulgrew who chose to take a touch rather than shoot first time, allowing the Hibs defence to clear. More slick interplay between the two gave Hooper a glorious chance to go further ahead but his effort was saved by Williams as the Bhoys went in at half time one goal to the good having been relatively untroubled.

It didn't take long from the restart for the Hoops to double their lead as Lustig got forward to good effect in finding Commons with his back to goal in the box. A smart turn from the Scottish international gave him the time and space he needed to drill home his third goal in six days and give Celtic a commanding lead. It could have been three barely a minute later as Stokes took a pop from distance which Williams had to smartly get down and push past the post.

Five minutes later Commons should have completed his hat trick. Hooper dispossessed the dreadful Jorge Claros at the edge of his own box, leaving Celtic with a two on one situation. Hooper unselfishly passed to Commons when it looked easier for the Englishman to score, however his pass was a little too heavy for Commons who somehow contrived to knock the ball past the post for a goal kick.

It was soon three nil as a cross from Joe Ledley was turned into the net by Mikael Lustig despite protests from the Hibs players who felt the Swede had used his hand rather than his head. Replays showed that the Hibees certainly had a right to feel hard done by though it didn't seem deliberate. Nevertheless, his muted celebration seemed to confirm the Hibs players' protests.

Mikael Lustig makes himself handy by making it three nil​

The game itself became something of a side show as the famous Craig Whyte Horseman banner from the final ever Old Firm game made a hilarious return (on Grand National Day funnily enough) as it "rode" around the stadium, heralding the great mans return to the Scottish football scene this week. Then the news came through with 15 minutes to go that St Mirren had taken the lead at Fir Park, meaning that if the scores stayed the same, Celtic would be confirmed Champions.

As the crowd digested this news, Gary Hooper managed to miss a sitter as he failed to turn a great Izaguirre cross into the net from barely a few yards out.
Just as the match was entering injury time, news filtered through that James McFadden had equalized for Motherwell, meaning that Celtic will have to wait for the next round of fixtures for a chance to secure the title. Before then, Celtic face Jackie MacMamara's Dundee United side in the Scottish Cup Semi Final next weekend, looking to put our recent Hampden hoodoo to rest.

Celtic Man Of The Match:-Kris Commons scored two goals and was generally creative throughout, an excellent performance.​

CELTIC (4-4-2): Forster; Lustig (Samaras 68), Ambrose, Wilson, Izaguirre; Commons (Rogic 78), Ledley, Wanyama, Mulgrew; Hooper (McCourt 84), Stokes
Subs not used: Zaluska, Gershon, Watt, Kayal

GOALS: Commons (14, 52), Lustig (61)

HIBERNIAN (4-1-4-1): Williams; Clancy, McPake, Hanlon, McGivern; Claros; Wotherspoon (Cairney 59), Deegan (Stevenson 74), Thomson (Robertson 65), Harris; Griffiths
Subs not used: Murdoch, Doyle, Handling, Forster

Ref: John Beaton
Att: 49,174