NO PARK STROLL FOR THE BHOYS!

Celtic’s subs come to rescue as battling Hibs are anything but a walkover this time

A 15th straight home Premiership win for Celtic — yet there was nothing straightforward about this latest Parkhead show of strength.

Faced with a stubborn Hibs team, one immeasurably more streetwise than the line-up hit for six on the club’s last visit to Glasgow’s east end, Celtic had to fight every inch to get this one over the line.

Inevitably, they found a way and it was no surprise the substitutes’ bench again provided the impetus, Korean striker Hyeon-gyu Oh climbing from the bench to put Ange Postecoglou’s team in front in the last 10 minutes before Sead Haksabanovic applied gloss with a swerving finish.

Prior to that, it was a tale of two penalties and a red card that saw Hibs reduced to 10 men when Elie Youan fell foul of referee Steven McLean with two booking inside the first 25 minutes.

This was an erratic afternoon for the match official, who saw each of those decisions disputed and was forced to overturn another big call near the end when he wrongly awarded a second penalty to Celtic and booked David Marshall when in fact Liel Abada had lost his footing long before he was anywhere near the Hibs keeper.

The numerical disadvantage only hardened the visitors’ resolve, with scorer Josh Campbell leading the line tirelessly and Marshall winding back the clock.

Ahead of a big fortnight for Scotland when Steve Clarke will be forced to field an uncapped keeper in the opening Euro qualifiers, the 38-year-old served a reminder of his sustained talent.

While Marshall has voluntarily stepped away from the international arena, Reo Hatate was not deemed worthy of selection by Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu despite his form good enough to earn him cinch Player of the Month award.

Before the midfielder could find his groove in this game, however, he had pulled up and had to be replaced by David Turnbull.

Cup of tea in hand, Hibs boss Lee Johnson had spent the warm-up mingling with his players and devoted some time to on-loan Burnley midfielder CJ Egan-Riley, who provided the game’s first threat.

Deployed in support of Youan, Campbell had the task of ensuring the French striker was not left isolated but he also pulled off the rare feat of rumbling Callum McGregor out of possession and igniting the move.

A nonchalant back-heel fed Lewis Stevenson and, from one wing-back to another, the ball was slung high and diagonal for Lewis Miller to knock down. Egan-Riley arrived on the edge of the box to crash in a shot that flew just over.

Yet after that tantalising glimpse of what Hibs might be capable of in an attacking sense, Youan was removed from the equation. He has been in blistering form, his five goals helping Hibs climb their way out of trouble and towards European contention in the last six games.

Already booked for going in too late on Carl Starfelt, Youan tangled with Cameron Carter-Vickers. Whether the forward’s boot was high or the defender’s head low was debatable. McLean didn’t appear to see it but produced a second yellow card.

Jota teed up Kyogo Furuhashi for two point-blank efforts but Marshall showed great reflexes to turn both away and was also strong when the Portuguese himself rammed a shot goalward.

A couple of weeks on from Robbie Neilson’s claim that it would take a ‘decapitation’ to get a penalty at Parkhead, Hibs claimed the breakthrough. Campbell was working his boots off and, as he reset his footwear following a seemingly wasted set-piece, McLean indicated that a VAR check was underway.

Invited to approach the monitor, the official deemed Starfelt to have tugged Paul Hanlon’s jersey and awarded the penalty. Campbell scored and milked his celebration.

After that six-goal thumping, Johnson deployed some deflection tactics by marvelling at the speed of the Celtic ball boys and girls in returning the ball and facilitating the high tempo of their team.

Given something tangible to defend in adverse circumstances, Hibs rolled out their own timewasting playbook, with the manager picking up a yellow card when a member of his bench threw an extra ball on as Celtic attempted to take a free-kick.

Hibs got to half-time safe enough but Celtic’s early appearance from the tunnel suggested the ante was about to be upped. Within six minutes they’d been awarded a penalty, with Carter-Vickers tumbling to the ground under the attention of Hanlon. McLean immediately pointed to the spot.

Jota squeezed the penalty under Marshall and over the line.

On the hour, Postecoglou withdrew Greg Taylor, Matt O’Riley and Daizen Maeda for Alexandro Bernabei, Liel Abada and Oh.

Furuhashi thought he’d edged his team in front after McLean’s smart application of the advantage rule allowed Abada to continue after Jota was crudely halted by Marijan Cabraja. The Israeli fed the country’s top scorer with a pass but Marshall’s touch was enough to slow the ball and allow Egan-Riley to make a goal-line intervention.

This only delayed the inevitable. Hanlon blocked Furuhashi’s shot but was taken out by the quality of Turnbull’s corner. Oh won the fight with Campbell to head home.

On for Furuhashi, Haksabanovic completed the scoring from Turnbull’s second assist of the day. CELTIC (4-3-3): Hart; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Taylor (Bernabei 60); McGregor, Hatate (Turnbull 13), O’Riley (Abada); Jota, Kyogo (Haksabanovic 83), Maeda (Oh 60). Subs (not used): Bain, Ralston, Kobayashi, Summers. Booked: Oh. HIBERNIAN (5-3-1-1): Marshall; Miller (Henderson 79), Fish (Hope 69), Hanlon, Cabraja, Stevenson;

Egan-Riley, Doyle-Hayes (Cadden 63), Jeggo; Campbell; Youan. Subs (not used) Johnson, Nisbet, Devlin, McKirdy, MacIntyre, Kukharevych. Booked: Youan, Hanlon, Cabraja, Campbell. Sent off: Youan. Referee: Steven McLean. Attendance: 59,166.