Goalless draw deals Celtic's title hopes a blow

Celtic’s chances of securing a fourth consecutive SPL title were dealt a blow at Easter Road as the Hoops failed to secure a win, leaving them two points shy of Rangers with a single game to go.

Despite enjoying the majority of possession and creating a number of scoring opportunities, Gordon Strachan’s men could only secure a point as Hibs defended in numbers, ensuring they did not leave the pitch without at least a point.

The best chance of the game fell to Hibs striker Steven Fletcher whose well-struck overhead kick on 21 minutes forced an impressive reflex save from Artur Boruc.

Celtic fought hard to beat the Hibees’ deep defence, but shots from Scott McDonald and Goergios Samaras failed to trouble in-form keeper Yves Ma-Kalambay.

Two first-half free-kicks from Shinsuke Nakamura were met by the head of Celtic stand-in skipper Garry Caldwell, but the ex-Hibernian defender was unable to break the deadlock on either occasion, despite coming close.

McDonald looked odds-on to put Celtic 1-0 up on the stroke of half time, but a poor shot from the Australian striker was fired well to the right.

Celtic begun the second half on the offensive, and a series of explosive runs up the left wing from Aiden McGeady looked promising.

Hibs were effective on the counter-attack, and looked threatening when Derek Riordan forced Caldwell into conceding a corner on 52 minutes, but the Leith outfit struggled to angle their few second-half chances on target.

Shortly after the restart, Riordan latched onto an excellent pass from John Rankin, but the striker’s effort from the edge of the area was blasted over the crossbar.

Midway through the second half, Strachan attempted to boost his strike force with the introduction of Jan Vennegoor Of Hesselink in place of the ineffective Samaras. Seven minutes later, Shaun Maloney was brought on to replace Scott Brown as Celtic continued to press for an opener.

The final twenty minutes saw the Hoops dominate possession, playing the vast majority of football in deep in the Hibs half. A series of corners and high balls into the area saw Vennegoor Of Hesselink and Paul Hartley attempt headers at goal, but safe hands from Ma-Kalambay and boot of Rob Jones ensured that the match remained goalless.

A powerful 25-yard strike from Nakamura on the stroke of 90 minutes looked goal bound, but a well-executed defensive header from Jones deflected the shot, denying Celtic’s last throw of the dice.

Despite his side’s chances of title success taking a serious knock, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was clearly happy with his side’s performance.

“You can’t do anything more than that, apart from put the ball in the back of the net,” he said.

“I told the players to keep the ball, make chances, get corner kicks and free kicks and I can’t change what I asked from them.

“What you hope for is goals, and that in the last two away games has been out failing. All that was missing was a goal.

“We have to win next week and keep our fingers crossed. It will be an exciting day.”

Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen likewise congratulated his players on a quality all-round display.

“I thought defensively we were rock solid today,” he said. “Every player was fully focussed and there were no lapses in concentration.

“Going forward, unfortunately we didn’t score, though Fletcher’s effort in the firs half was spectacular.

“Our plan was to win this game. Unfortunately we didn’t score, but we planned to keep a clean sheet and we did that.”