Celtic edged a step closer to the title after coming back from a goal down to gain a point against Hibernian at Easter Road.

John Hartson cancelled out teenager Garry O'Connor's first goal for the club to move the champions 13 points clear of Rangers.

Celtic defender Bobo Balde however, could be in hot water after catching Paul Fenwick in the face, referee Alan Freeland failing to see the incident.

Hibernian's under-fire manager Franck Sauzee will be quietly delighted with his side's display as they became only the third Scottish team to take points from Celtic this season.

He is still to get a first Premier League win under his belt, but his players showed they are fully behind him with a draw to take them 11 points clear of bottom place St Johnstone.

They caused Celtic all kinds of problems in the first-half and early in the second, but it was the visitors who were the first to cause problems in the very first minute.

Lubo Moravcik had sent Bobby Petta away with a quick free-kick and Hibernian goalkeeper Nick Colgan needed to come off his line to claim his cross with Henrik Larsson lurking ominously.

The home side though did not look a side with problems as they came charging forward and went agonisingly close to going ahead in the fifth minute.

Ulises de la Cruz got away from Stephen Crainey and fired an inviting pass across the face of goal which O'Connor got a touch to ahead of Robert Douglas, but the ball screwed across goal.

Ian Murray and Johan Mjallby were spoken to after poor tackles, but Hibernian went close again in the eight minute.

De la Cruz again showed a quick turn of pace to get away from Petta and Jamie Smith needed to make a vital headed clearance to prevent Francisco Luna from forcing Douglas to make a save.

Jarkko Wiss' reckless tackle on Lubo Moravcik a minute later was one too many and the referee needed to take action to cool things down by showing him the yellow card.

Hibernian then did beat Douglas in the 21st minute to take a deserved lead against the champions.

Grant Brebner pumped a long free-kick into the Celtic box and John Hartson appeared to head the ball back into the danger area under pressure from Paul Fenwick, and O'Connor reacted quickly to smash a volley home from seven yards.

The visiting defence and Douglas were certainly not used to this much hard work and four minutes later the 'keeper needed to be alert to tip Wiss' stinging long-range effort over the bar.

Balde was then at the centre of controversy, the Frenchman pushing his forearm into the face of Fenwick in the box, but the usually observant Freeland failed to see it and Balde avoided what should have been a straight red card.

Townley curled a right-foot free-kick just over the bar to Douglas' relief before Larsson headed Moravcik's corner just over the bar at the other end seconds before the break.

Celtic needed another second-half performance like in midweek to wrestle the points away from Hibernian and they looked charged up on their re-appearance from the dressing room.

The home side, however, almost doubled their advantage in the 49th minute when Brebner played Luna clean through on goal, but Douglas managed to get a hand to his chip and Balde cleared.

The Spaniard then drove into the side-netting from close range with the visitors desperately struggling without Valgaeren.

Hibernian paid however, for those missed chances in the 50th minute when Hartson pounced inside the box for his 13th goal of the season.

The Welshman pulled away at the far post and Moravcik brilliantly picked him out with an inviting left-foot cross and the striker headed clinically inside the post and Colgan's hand.

Hibernian were in danger of losing their cool as decisions started to go against them and Brebner was booked in the 55th minute for bringing down Moravcik outside the area.

The mercurial Slovakian then tried an audacious right-foot curler from the resulting free-kick, but Colgan dealt with it by his post.

Ian Murray's name was also taken for a crunching late tackle on Mjallby as Celtic started to turn the screw.

Debutant Caldwell should have been punished by Larsson in the 65th minute after failing to clear the ball, but the in-form Swede failed to get the power to beat Colgan.

Moravcik then escaped with just a yellow card after kicking out at Wiss and was quickly joined in Freeland's book by Mjallby for an innocent looking tackle on Luna.

Celtic continued to pile on the pressure and the home side needed a great save from Colgan to deny Hartson from close range and keep his side on level terms.

Hibernian hung on to give Sauzee some welcome relief and showed Rangers that Celtic are only human before Tuesday's CIS Insurance Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.