Sluggish Celtic stumble on the road as Brendan Rodgers Hibee hoodoo continues with Easter Road shutout - 3 talking points

Hibs held firm to collect a point against Celtic as a 0-0 draw extended Brendan Rodgers’ wait for an Easter Road win.

Gaffer Nick Montgomery took flak for being too open in the 4-0 defeat to Rangers last week. But his Hibs team showed another side to their game as they managed to keep their shape to frustrate Celts. Mikey Johnston came off the bench to make his first Hoops appearance since March 2022. But there was no way through as the champions looked leggy on the back of the midweek thriller against Atletico Madrid.

Celts were sluggish but Hibs were solid and Easter Road remains the only top flight ground Rodgers hasn’t won at across his two spells in charge. Montgomery was true to his word and stuck with his 4-4-2 formation. But it wasn’t a gung ho one as Hibs sat deep and tried to restrict Celtic’s space.

It worked early on as the Hoops had to work hard for any openings. It took almost 20 minutes for the visitors to threaten when Rocky Bushiri passed the ball straight to Paulo Bernardo on the edge of the box and the midfielder fired narrowly wide. The big defender was living dangerously at times – and he almost got caught when he caught Alistair Johnston flush in the face with a clearance.

The Hoops man was left looking dazed and had to be replaced moments later but Hibs were still taking risks. A mix up between David Marshall and Jimmy Jeggo opened the door for Callum McGregor to force the keeper into a save before Luis Palma blasted over with the rebound.

Hibs had their moments, with Jair Tavares§ firing straight at Joe Hart before Martin Boyle’s snap shot flashed over the bar. Bernardo burst into the box just before the break but Marshall made a superb block and then got up to deny Daizen Maeda as well.

Hibs had