Manager Martin O’Neill suffered his first domestic defeat since returning to Celtic, dropping a vital three points in the Scottish Premiership title race with a 2-1 defeat at Hibernian.
Substitute Kai Andrews scored a dramatic winning goal with three minutes remaining to give Hibs their first win at Celtic Park since 2010.
Felix Passlack put the visitors ahead first, before Benjamin Nygren scored his 18th goal of the season to equalize just before half-time.
Kai Andrews celebrates at full-time after scoring the winning goal late on as Hibs win 2-1 against Celtic
Despite relentless pressure in the second half, Auston Trusty was shown a straight red card, forcing the champions to play the final 17 minutes of the match with 10 men.
Celtic Trail League leaders Hearts lead by six points in a test run of four away games, including next weekend’s Old Firm clash at Ibrox, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Sunday, March 1st 11am
Kickoff at 12pm
Celtic got off to a terrible start.
Passlack headed in a great cross from Nicky Cadden to take the lead in the 24th minute, but they were once again on the back foot.
It could have and should have been much worse.
Three minutes later, Martin Boyle’s deft run in from behind Celtic’s last line was picked out by Cadden. The Australian tried to round Kasper Schmeichel, but his touch was too wide and he chose to shoot instead of hitting Jamie McGrath or Owen Elding, who were waiting for a tap-in.
It was a goal conceded for the champions, who fought back with a barrage of attacks in an attempt to equalize before the break.
Callum McGregor reacts after Kai Andrews’ late goal saw Celtic lose 2-1 to Hibernian
Tomas Kvankala and Yang Hyun-jun missed great chances, and Nygren, who was in good form, stepped up again.
The Sweden midfielder scored with a diving header from Kieran Tierney’s deflected cross in stoppage time.
Celtic then started the second half well with a wave of green and white attacks, but ultimately paid the price for not capitalizing on their advantage.
The game changed in the 73rd minute when defender Auston Trusty was sent off for hitting Jamie McGrath in the arm in a corner.
Hibs smelled blood and Andrews eventually scored the winning goal in the 87th minute.
The Coventry City loanee linked up well with fellow substitute Ante Sto and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
O’Neill: We haven’t solved the problem at all.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told Sky Sports News:
“Obviously it was a disappointing result and performance.
“I spoke to the referee and he said he was going to speak to the two players (Trusty and McGrath) and then VAR asked the referee to intervene and claim violence.”
“I don’t know about VAR anymore. If there was VAR, it would have been an iron penalty when (Liam) Scales was caught in the penalty area two minutes later.”
“We can’t do these certain things now if they fall under serious foul play. But that’s the way it is and nothing is going to change now, so we need to be ready and act again.”
“We haven’t gotten out of the way at all. We knew there would be ups and downs this year. It’s disappointing to drop points today, but we’re still fighting.
“When you lose a game you always miss an opportunity, but there’s a lot to play for. We’re still fighting for it and the fans were great.”
Gray: We wanted to make history.
Hibernian head coach David Gray said on Sky Sports News:
“Obviously I’m really happy to win, and I’m also happy for the players.
“I challenged them before the game to try and make history in a positive way. It’s been a while since a Hibs team came here and won.
“It’s been 16 years since then. We tried to recreate history in a positive way and the boys should get all the credit for that, because they fully deserve it.”
“It’s the last two times we’ve been here and not gotten lost, so it’s good for the supporters, this time they’ll be happy going down the M8.
“We’ve been a bit under the radar because we’ve been inconsistent at times. If we can play at the same level, we’re a good team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, and we proved that today.”
“We are now five points clear of Motherwell and that is what we always try to achieve until we can no longer catch up with the team in front of us.”
“A result like that will keep us hungry and ensure we have something to play towards the end of the season.”
