Celtic responded to their early elimination from the Champions League by hammering Hibernian 6-1 at Parkhead.
Ange Postecoglou was defiant in the face of the Hoops’ European struggles, and his charges came out with a point to prove on their return to domestic action.
The hosts took a ninth-minute lead when a deep cross from Sead Haksabanovic – on a rare start following his summer arrival – was converted by James Forrest at Hibs’ far post.
Celtic doubled their advantage another nine minutes later through Georgios Giakoumakis, who was able to guide the ball in following a searching cross by Alexandro Bernabei.
Postecoglou’s men notched home their third midway through a manic first half with Forrest grabbing his second of the afternoon to take his total tally in a Celtic shirt to 99.
Hibernian managed to get to half-time just the three goals behind, and Lee Johnson responded by making three substitutions.
One of those, Thody Elie Youan, managed to make a difference by pulling one back on the 56-minute mark, though the visitors’ mild celebrations were short lived as Forrest went down the other end and to grab his hat-trick and 100th Celtic goal.
Hibernian’s misery was compounded when Giakoumakis added his second of the afternoon and Daizen Maeda got in on the act in the final 20 minutes, bringing their four-match winning run to an end.
Celtic extend their lead atop the Scottish Premiership table to five points ahead of Rangers’ trip to Motherwell on Sunday.
Credit: 90min.com
