PENNY for Steve Clarke after watching Celtic captain Callum McGregor deliver an imperious midfield goal-scoring masterclass.
Just 48 hours after retiring from foreign football, McGregor scored one of the goals of his career, harking back to a quick first game by Nicolas Kuhn.
And for the Scotland coach, Clarke, sitting in the stands with his assistant John Carver, would have compounded the heartbreaking blow of wasting one of his most productive men.
The outstanding Celtic had won it until the break and should have increased their tally later.
Hibs, however, were terrible, and with Parkhead next weekend in the Premier Sports Cup, David Gray has cause for concern.
Hibs were disastrous in their crushing defeat to St Mirren in Paisley and MUST oppose the champions.
But they didn’t; They were even worse.
It was a lovely sunny day in Leith – yet it was Celtic who dazzled the maximum with a magnificent 45-minute first part complete of brilliant football and two goals.
With their new replacement yellow jersey, you can see that the Hoops were keen to demolish their hosts under pressure.
Hibs was also yellow: heartless and without courage with the ball.
Rodgers hadn’t liked getting to those parts before, just one win in five attempts in his two spells in the rankings and even the one in February was a sweat.
But this time he will have his day in the capital.
Barely 3 minutes had elapsed when Celtic took the lead, Kuhn finished off a devastating counterattack.
Greg Taylor made a Hibs foray straight towards the German player halfway through and at one point handed a clever ball over Hibs’ defense to Kyogo Furuhashi.
The Japanese striker, still Celtic’s only available striker, returned to the front of the box and fired a low right-footed shot that Josef Bursik began to parry.
In an instant, James Forrest was handed over, and from his court, Kuhn, who had fled from his own half, followed with a touch.
?️ “H em!” Nicolas Kühn gives Celtic the lead in 3 minutes ⬇️ pic. twitter. com/rampgv4bj5
Celtic had the devastated Hibs chasing shadows as they delighted in some very good shooting, precise passing, great movement and versatile, targeted football.
Kuhn – his dramatic transformation from last season – was sure to be brimming with conviction, full of tricks, blistering runs and penetrating passes.
Celtic took the lead and a Hibs corner after 14 minutes was just as clever for the already unsettled home side.
Josh Campbell produced a backward pass that allowed Furuhashi to escape into the box and then fired wide.
But Celtic’s moment came in the 19th minute, and even better than the first.
After a ball pass, McGregor took possession nearly 30 yards from goal and drove a left-footed howler into the far corner of a helpless Bursik.
The captain of the Hoops has a huge back, as commendable for his work with the ball as he himself is with the ball.
At this level it seemed that he could be anything Celtic wanted, so clever and so dumb were the Hibs.
? “It’s simply stunning through Callum McGregor!” The Celtic captain makes it 2-0 against Hibs. Watch all the action on Sky Sports NOW ? pic. twitter. com/FPDlg1WXjd
The desperate Hibees couldn’t muster anything and Warren O’Hora nearly scored a third for the Celts with his outstretched leg deflecting a cross from Alistair Johnston opposite the bottom of the crossbar.
Then Matt O’Riley, who had once returned to being an elegant artist amid intense movement communication, made a turn with his left foot.
The Hibs were wearing empty shirts and when captain Joe Newell took a free kick, the fans reacted angrily.
It’s possible that Hoops goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was sitting at his post reading an Edinburgh tale about everything he had to do.
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The only positive for Hibs is that at the start of the second half there were only two.
And the Hoops had no respite after the break.
McGregor fired a left-footed shot wide of the post before Martin Boyle, in his first league games away from the player, took Hibs’ first shot on goal, which flew over.
Celtic responded with a run after a pass from Furuhashi Greg Taylor and a prepared left-footed shot.
Hibs recovered midway through the second half with a bit of pressure but nothing for Schmeichel.
But it took a huge sliding block from O’Hora to deny a shot from Kuhn from close range.
Furuhashi took several knocks in the game, and since no deal was ever reached for Adam Idah, each time Rodgers’ fear and No. 2 John Kennedy on the sidelines was unmistakable.
It’s a ridiculous scenario for a team like Celtic to have an identified backup striker lately, as close as a deal for Idah from Norwich City seems to be.
By DEREK McGregor
Hibs: Bursik five; Miller five, Ekpiteta five, O’Hora five, Obita five; Newell five, Campbell five, Levitt five; Boyle five, Kuharevich 4, Molotnikov 6. Substitutes: C Cadden 3 (Campbell, 62), Bowie five (Kuharevich, 62), Vente 3 (Molotnikov, 74), Moriah-Welsh 2 (Levitt, 82).
Celtic: Schmeichel 6; A Johnston 8, Carter-Vickers 7, Scales 7, Taylor 8; O’Riley 8, Hatate 6, McGregor 9; Kuhn 8, Kyogo 7, Forrest 7. Substitutes: Maeda four (Forrest, 62), Bernardo four (Hatate, 7four), M Johnston 3 (Kyogo, 7four), Ralston 3 (A Johnston, 81), Yang 3 (Kuhn, 81), Holm 1 (M Johnston, four).
Referee: Nick Walsh 7 – Few genuine for the whistler and he treated everything with calm and authority. His cards for Campbell, Newell and Scales were all deserved.
However, after 70 minutes they returned to speed control and some players began to look tired after an all-out performance.
Rudi Molotnikov woke up the Hibs fans with a hard, high, deflected shot.
Furuhashi replaced striker Mikey Johnston, in his first competitive game for Celtic since January. The permanent capture of Paulo Beranrdo, valued at £3. 5 million, has also been announced.
And Johnston, an impressive loan spell at West Brom last season, temporarily fired a right-footed shot just inches wide.
In the final minutes of 90 time, Hibs stand-in Kieron Bowie, a midweek Fulham sack for £600,000, shook Cameron Carter-Vickers well and, from a sharp angle, hit the crossbar with a shot.
Mikey Johnston struck late through Bursik, with Celtic claiming a penalty, and the adjustment was delayed for a few minutes for processing. Then he replaced it himself.
But frankly, it’s the Hibs that are in dire need of attention.
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