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Trivia
- The club offered Alan Stubbs a 1 year extension to his contract, partly to ease any worry factors over his future at Celtic as he underwent treatment for testicular cancer for the second time.
Review
A turgid dull game where neither team played to their capabilities. A decent goal chalked off by Dougal who then tried to give Hibs a penalty.
Teams
Hibernian
Colgan (Franks 65), G. Smith, Sauzee, Fenwick, Laursen, Latapy, O'Neil, Jack, Lovell, Zitelli (Lehmann 75), Paatelainen.
Subs Not Used: Andrews, Murray, McManus.
Booked: Laursen (Hibernian)
Celtic
Douglas, Boyd, McNamara, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Petta (Mahe 35), Agathe, Petrov, Healy (Moravcik 75), Larsson, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Gould, Johnson, Tebily.
Booked: Sutton, McNamara. (Celtic)
Attendance: 14,939
Referee: S Dougal (Scotland).
Articles
- Match Report
Pictures
Stats
| Hibernian | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 1 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 23 | 18 |
| Shots on Target | 2 | 1 |
| Corners | 3 | 3 |
| Offside | 2 | 2 |
Little to shout about as top two earn point; Sauzee given top-man award in a capital night to forget
The Herald 30/11/2000
Hibs 0
Celtic 0
NOTHING much left us thrilled at being present at Easter Road last night but, then, the two teams were so desperate to win that this was always an unlikely eventuality.
Still, they tried awful hard, did every player on the field.
Goalmouth incidents were rare, good saves were virtually absent, but the willingness to make a game of it kept the crowd interested, and then some.
By the time it was all over, nobody had scored, nobody had won, and each team had earned a point.
In the circumstances that both entered the fray, may be that was just about right.
Hibs had not won any of their last three games, after all, and Celtic came here on the back of that 5-1 drubbing from Rangers at Ibrox.
Neither could contemplate defeat, but each was intent on victory.
The result was stalemate and means that they remain first and second in the SPL, with Celtic seven points ahead of their Edinburgh pursuers, and 13 ahead of the champions, Rangers.
Franck Sauzee was awarded the man-of-the-match prize, which no-one could dispute, and on the Celtic side, Johan Mjallby and Stilian Petrov were especially good.
Otherwise, it was working men against working men, not that there is anything wrong with that, but sparks of inspiration do help to lift the old ball game above the mundane.
However, perhaps after recent events that was asking for too much.
There were no panic changes in the Parkhead line-up in light of the recent defeat at Ibrox, but Jackie McNamara, who had been a substitute at the weekend, started off in central midfield this time, in place of the suspended Alan Thompson, while Colin Healy came in for Lubo Moravcik.
Stilian Petrov, who had been very much in the heart of the action against Rangers, was instantly in bother as he was caught in the chest by the boot of Mixu Paatelainen, but he recovered quickly.
From the evidence of the opening period, he and his team-mates were in for another stern test as Hibs, and to be fair Celtic themselves, were in no mood for emphasising the defensive aspects of their sides.
None the less, the scoring chances came at the Hibs end, where Henrik Larsson had one shot deflected which seemed on course for the target, but from the corner, there was an almighty scramble, with first Larsson trying a shot that was blocked before Johan Mjallby put the ball in the net, only to be deflated after the referee indicated that there had been a foul on the keeper.
Bobby Petta, who had a quiet game at Ibrox, was looking more threatening but found the Hibs defence uncompromising after a hat trick of fouls had halted his progress.
Larsson had another decent chance when a cross from Didier Agathe, who was booed every time he touched the ball – which was inevitable as he he left Hibs for Celtic – was flicked on by Sutton, but the Swede's header was too high.
The best effort by Hibs in this spell came from Paatelainen, whose snap shot was well stopped by Robert Douglas.
The Hibs striker just failed to reach a well-directed cross from Stuart Lovell, with Mjallby stretching out desperately to prevent him making contact.
In 35 minutes, Petta had to go off after he was hurt in a collision with Frank Sauzee, and on came Stephane Mahe.
However, Hibs felt hard done by five minutes before the interval when referee Stuart Dougal first gave them a penalty, when Agathe brought down Ulrik Laursen inside the box, but then changed his mind as he spotted the stand-side linesman with his flag up for offside against the Hibs man.
To be fair, the flag had gone up before the foul was committed.
Sutton was then booked for speaking out of turn, a yellow card that means he will be absent in a fortnight's time as he has gone over the punishment threshold.
Sauzee was the first player to test either keeper with a long- range effort which was held by Douglas, but then Celtic came up with as fine a move as had been seen yet, involving Agathe, McNamara, Sutton, and in the end Healy, who was beaten to the ball by the alert Colgan.
Unfortunately, for the home side, the keeper suffered a pulled muscle a little later he had to leave the field after 65 minutes.
He was replaced by Mike Franks, who had the happy experience of clutching a shot almost immediately, a save that should have settle his nerves.
The play, however, was a bit scrappy by now, with the midfield battle dominating the action, although, if anything, Hibs had more of the attacking play than the visiting lot.
Even at that, while they made good ground towards Douglas, they had scarcely brought out a save worthy of the name from the former Dundee goalie, but that was maybe down to some stalwart defending by Mjallby in particular and the Celtic defence in general.
McNamara was booked for dissent as he disputed a free kick which he then headed away after Sauzee sent in a shot hard and high for the far corner.
Hibs were putting on a lot of pressure at this point, and another corner from the right had the Celtic defence in a bit of a tizzy before it was cleared.
In 75 minutes, Hibs replaced Zitelli with Dirk Lehmann, and at the same time, Celtic put on Moravcik for Healy.
- Manager Interview
Martin O’Neill post match:
"The swirling wind made conditions very difficult indeed," Martin O'Neill said. "This was the first time we failed to score all season, so we're a bit disappointed. In the course of time though it might turn out to be a vital point for us."
"I am not one to criticise referees but TV evidence showed there wasn't too much wrong with that goal. The referee said there was a melee in the box but it only involved two of our players going for the ball.
"We had Jackie booked for throwing the ball away but there were at least four other instances of players doing that which went unpunished and you're looking for some consistency.
"I apologise for going up the line like I did but I saw his flag going up before the penalty was awarded and I wanted to make sure it stayed up. On Sunday at Ibrox a linesman had flagged for offside and then put his flag down and I was concerned that might happen again.
"This was the first time we've failed to score this season but we didn't create enough chances to take all three points."
Hibernian 0 Celtic 0 By Chris Roberts, PA Sport
Celtic suffered a huge hangover from Sunday's Old Firm drubbing to Rangers – but still came away from second-placed Hibernian with a share of the points.
Following the 5-1 humiliation at Ibrox – which brought Rangers back into the title race – all eyes were on how Martin O'Neill's side would react at a blustery Easter Road, but on this showing the need for reinforcements is urgent.
Celtic's lack of strength in depth was clearly apparent as they were without Alan Stubbs, Paul Lambert, Morten Wieghorst and the suspended Alan Thompson – and they looked desperately short of ideas as they struggled to even hit the target.
In contrast Alex McLeish's side have been the surprise package this season and with Franck Sauzee at the back they frustrated Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson – without managing to trouble Celtic themselves.
The Parkhead side, who face Dunfermline at home on Saturday, will now be feeling the pressure with Rangers 13 points behind and with two games in hand.
In fairness the high winds made conditions tricky for both sides, but the football was poor and referee Stuart Dougal did not help by making it very stop-start – which enraged both O'Neill and McLeish.
The wind almost cost Hibernian in the ninth minute when their defence hesitated giving Larsson the opportunity to hit a shot which flew just wide after deflecting off Sauzee.
From Healy's corner Johan Mjallby fired the ball home from close range after a goalmouth scramble, but the referee felt that goalkeeper Nick Colgan had been fouled.
In the 17th minute Didier Agathe could have rubbed salt in Hibs' wounds – after quitting Easter Road for Parkhead – when he crossed from the right to Sutton, who headed on to Larsson, but the Swede was unable to get his effort on target.
The home side forced their first shot on target in the 28th minute when Paul Fenwick fed the ball through to Mixu Paatelainen in the box, but the Finn drilled a shot straight into the hands of Robert Douglas.
Celtic lost another key player when Bobby Petta went off on the half-hour to have stitches in a leg wound after a crunching challenge from Sauzee and Stephane Mahe came on.
Celtic manager O'Neill continued to become increasingly incensed by some of Dougal's decisions and after charging down the touchline he had to be spoken to by fourth official John Fleming.
Hibernian again created a good chance in the 33rd minute when Mjallby let a long ball from Gary Smith run across his body in the area and Paatelainen hit a shot over the bar.
The game came to life in controversial circumstances after 40 minutes when Hibernian had shouts for a penalty rejected. Agathe had brought down John O'Neil in the box, but the linesman was flagging for offside.
O'Neill would have let his feelings known to the players in the dressing room at half-time, but after the break they continued to be out of sorts.
The Celtic manager continued to vent his anger at some of the referee's decisions and in the 52nd minute he and coach John Robertson were spoken to by Dougal.
McLeish was also spoken to by the busy official moments later for preventing Mjallby from taking a quick throw-in.
The game was becoming increasingly scrappy with more and more passes going astray and more fouls creeping in.
O'Neill continued to be the more animated of the two managers, but McLeish was forced to take off keeper Colgan in the 66th minute through injury and Mike Franks replaced him.
Frank was immediately called into action when Stilian Petrov fired in a fierce free-kick from the left flank. Sutton almost got a touch on the ball as it went through to the stand-in keeper.
McNamara was booked for dissent after Agathe had been adjudged to have fouled Ulrik Laursen, which brought another furious reaction from O'Neill on the touchline.
McLeish replaced David Zitelli with Dirk Lehmann in the 75th minute and O'Neill introduced Lubomir Moravcik for the ineffective Colin Healy.
Agathe burst through moments later before playing the ball through to Larsson, who uncharacteristically blazed high over the bar.
Hibs had Laursen yellow-carded late in the game for a foul on Agathe, but the game petered out to leave Rangers the more happy of the three championship hopefuls.
Teams:
Hibernian Colgan (Franks 65), G. Smith, Sauzee, Fenwick, Laursen, Latapy, O'Neil, Jack, Lovell, Zitelli (Lehmann 75), Paatelainen.
Subs Not Used: Andrews, Murray, McManus.
Booked: Laursen.
Celtic Douglas, Boyd, McNamara, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Petta (Mahe 35), Agathe, Petrov, Healy (Moravcik 75), Sutton, Larsson.
Subs Not Used: Gould, Johnson, Tebily.
Booked: Sutton, McNamara.
Att: 14,939
Ref: S Dougal (Scotland).