Celtic's title charge was stopped in its tracks as bottom club Hibernian held
out to a determined goalless draw at Parkhead.
Visiting manager Alex McLeish was sent to the stands after 72 minutes, but
stayed on the bench long enough to guide his side a step closer to survival.
He departed arm-in-arm with Celtic assistant head coach Murdo MacLeod after
referee George Simpson punished both for dissent to prompt a rare moment of
togetherness during a hard-fought match.
That Celtic take a point means their Championship destiny remains in their own
hands, but it was an afternoon of anguish for their long-suffering support.
The home team found themselves contained and short of craft throughout as they
struggled to find their usual fluency and came up against their familiar
problems in front of goal.
The lack of a cutting edge up front was again thrown into sharp relief by a
deadlock made more painful by Rangers' winning at Hearts to cut Celtic's lead at
the top to a point.
Celtic were unchanged for the third successive game with Craig Burley's back
problem which forced him out of Scotland's 1-1 midweek draw with Finland able to
be risked for his club.
The visitors opted for caution at the outset with Justin Skinner preferred to
the more attack-minded Kevin Harper in midfield.
The home team's first chance fell to defender Alan Stubbs at the far post as
met Simon Donnelly's free-kick well but headed wide.
Their best opportunity of the opening half was effectively made for them when
Darren Dods lacked composure in front of his own goal after 21 minutes.
His backheader was too weak enabling Henrik Larsson to reach the ball ahead of
Bryan Gunn, but though the Swede lifted his effort over the keeper itbounced
wide of the upright.
Celtic had a penalty appeal refused on the half hour mark when Alan Stubbs
claimed to have been pushed by John Hughes in the area.
As the interval approached, the tension evident manifested itself in
thetackling with Hibs' Willie Miller and Celtic's Enrico Annoni each booked for
persistent fouling.
Six minutes before the break, Hibernian, without a league win away all season,
almost gained a surprise lead after a stylish move.
On-loan Manchester United midfielder Grant Brebner released Miller with an
inside pass and the full-back's powerful strike went narrowly wide of themark.
Celtic attacked from the restart, Larsson winning the ball to feed Burley
after 47 minutes, but the former Chelsea sent a rising drive too high.
Frustration quickly grew and turned to anger when Donnelly was pulled up for
offside when seemingly put through by Burley after 53 minutes.
Head coach Jansen responded by replacing Jackson with Jackie McNamara,
Donnelly moving to partner Larsson in the centre, but he failed to take his
finishing touch with him.
With Harper on for Tony Rougier, Hibernian sensed they might take something,
but it was Celtic substitute McNamara whose impact was more immediate.
A neat exchange of passes with Burley would have put him clear, but forHughes'
decisive tackle as Celtic continued to press albeit nervously.
This exposed them to a counter attack however and Harper's curled drive wide
came close to giving the visitors a shock lead with Gould beaten.
Donnelly missed the first of two clear chances after 70 minutes after Gunn
beat McNamara to possession, the rebound fell kindly but was chipped wide.
After McLeish and MacLeod departed, Donnelly had a further miss, Gunn clawing
the ball away only as far as Phil O'Donnell.
He found Donnelly unmarked eight yards from goal but despite such time and
space he headed badly wide.
A late penalty appeal for a Hughes challenge on O'Donnell came to nothing,
while in the last minute Gunn pushed away a near post strike by McNamara.
Celtic might still have that title dream, but none of their followers will
sleep easily tonight. end
Teams
Celtic: Gould, Boyd, Annoni, Donnelly (Blinker 79), Rieper,
Stubbs, Larsson, Burley (Wieghorst 82), Jackson (McNamara 58),
Lambert, O'Donnell.
Booked: Boyd, Annoni.
Hibernian: Gunn, Miller, Elliot, Brebner, Hughes, Dods, Skinner,
Rougier (Harper 62), Crawford (Tosh 81), Lavety, McGinlay.
Subs Not Used: Renwick.
Booked: Miller, McGinlay.
Att: 49,500
Ref: G Simpson (Westhill).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook