SPL

Hibernian 0-2 Celtic: McGregor stunner helps Bhoys to win

By Sports Desk August 11, 2024

Callum McGregor scored a stunner to help Celtic to a 2-0 victory over Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

Nicolas Kuhn had opened the scoring early on, though Kieron Bowie almost forced a nervy ending only to be denied by the woodwork.

Celtic wasted no time in asserting their dominance, as Kyogo Furuhashi's saved shot was kept in by James Forrest, who set Kuhn up to tap into the empty net after just three minutes.

McGregor soon stole the headlines though as he got the ball out of his feet before sending a swerving long-range effort over Josef Bursik.

He almost got a second just after half-time too, as he tried his luck from the edge of the box once more, but his deflected strike struck the post.

Hibs mustered some late fight to try and claw themselves back into it. Bowie fought his way through Celtic's backline before whipping a pacy shot over Kasper Schmeichel and off the top of the crossbar. 

Data Debrief: Bhoys ease through again

While they did not quite show the same dominance as in their Scottish Premiership opener against Kilmarnock, it was another big win for Brendan Rodgers' side. 

It could have been a different story as Celtic had won just four of their last 15 league games at Easter Road before this match (eight draws, three losses), but they did not slip up here.

Kuhn netted his second goal in as many games, while Schmeichel kept his second consecutive clean sheet as he settles into life in Glasgow. 

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    Both teams moved to 22 points each, with STATHS holding a four-goal advantage over Calabar, while Haile Selassie (12 points), who lost 0-2 to Camperdown (11 points), remain third. Kingston Technical is still yet to gain a point.

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    STATHS 18, Kingston Technical 1

    Calabar 4, Vauxhall 1

    Charlie Smith 4, Tarrant 0

    Ascot High 4, Pembroke Hall 2

    Haile Selassie 0, Camperdown 4

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    Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was in a defensive mood following his team's goalless draw away to Scotland in the Nations League on Tuesday night. 

    After scoring in each of the Spaniard's first 12 competitive matches in charge of Portugal, the Selecao have since drawn a blank in four of their last seven matches. 

    Portugal did have their chances, however, registering 14 shots during the contest, though only three were on target, ending the night with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.52.

    Martinez faced criticism for lacking a plan B after his side struggled to break the Scots down.

    "Our talent of our players, is plan A, B, C, D, E," he told De Sporto after the match.

    "We have players inside, outside, we are talking about a team that did not take risks, that defended very well.

    "We are talking about a team [Portugal] that reached 53 times in the last third. We have to give credit to Scotland and to us the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet."

    It was a frustrating night for Martinez and fans alike.

    Despite Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota among other big hitters starting, they were unable to find a way past 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who made some impressive saves when they did get in on goal.

    When asked what was missing from the performance, he alluded to a lack of individual quality.

    "A decision, a little bit of magic in the area. We had a lot of desire, we worked very well without the ball," Martinez said.

    "It was a dangerous game because we could have possession of the ball, but Scotland have little need to score a goal. We showed freshness, but we lacked freshness in the last third.

    "You also have to give credit to Scotland, they had a lot of players in front of goal, their goalkeeper also made a spectacular save."

    Following the performance and result at Hampden Park, there have been further questions about Martinez's selection policy for Portugal.

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    "The national team always has an open door, but now we are talking about a very, very large group of players," said Martinez.

    "It is a question of continuing to connect and synchronise what we can do. Now the game in Porto is to celebrate qualification in front of our fans."

    Scotland manager Steve Clarke, meanwhile, was much happier with the evening's result, which ended a four-game losing run for Scotland.

    "It's not about turning a corner, it's just about working hard and not letting the country down. You could see that tonight," he said.

    "The point was important for us after the work the group put in to get off the mark."

    The result also marked Scotland's first clean sheet since beating Gibraltar 2-0 seven games ago in a pre-Euro 2024 warm-up friendly.

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    "We denied a lot of space in behind. Good concentration in the box, determined defending at times, some really good blocks, which you need against sides like Portugal.

    "Everyone contributed to earn the point."

    Despite taking an unexpected point, Scotland are still bottom of their Nations League group, while the draw means they are winless in 10 matches - their longest ever run.

    But Clarke feels the players will take a lot from Tuesday's match that will help them going forward.

    "Everyone keeps talking about confidence, but they know they can play well," he said. 

    "We maybe didn't play as well as we could on the ball, which could be down to fatigue. But I don't think they lack confidence. Tonight's point will give us more confidence."

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