Hibernian 0-0 Celtic: Hibs hold Hoops to goalless draw and open door for Rangers in title race

Celtic were held to a goalless draw by Hibernian at Easter Road in a result that briefly opened a door for Rangers in the Scottish Premiership title race.

Celtic went into the game knowing that a win would open up a six-point gap at the top of the table ahead of Rangers' clash with Motherwell later on Sunday.

But Ange Postecoglou's side struggled to get going and could not break down Hibernian's resolute defence as they failed to win in the league for the first time in 2022.

The result means Shaun Maloney's side have taken seven points from their last three Premiership games and sees them leapfrog Dundee United into fourth place.

Hibs' total of just two shots - neither of which were on target - showed how cagey the game was and they limited Celtic to just a handful of chances.

That being said, Liel Abada should have done better in the 14th minute when Jota played him in down the right with an excellent pass that drew Matt Macey out of his goal, but the winger could only lob his effort wide of the near post.

Macey came racing out again in the 39th minute to smother the ball at Daizen Maeda's feet before tipping over Josip Juranovic's bending free-kick in first-half stoppage time.

The second half followed a familiar pattern, with Celtic - who had won 18 of their last 20 Premiership fixtures - struggling to create many openings.

Hibs were handed a scare just after half-time when Ryan Porteous hacked at a Reo Hatate cross and his clearance just bounced wide of his own goal, before Macey denied Abada with a stunning save after Greg Taylor's pull back.

But that was about as threatening as Celtic got and they eventually resorted to swinging crosses - 40 in total - into the Hibs area in a desperate attempt to put pressure on their opponents.

Hibs did manage to threaten themselves before the final whistle when Josh Doig dribbled from the halfway line into the Celtic area, but he could only scuff his effort wide of the near post, after which he and his team-mates knuckled down to hold on for a well-earned point.

It wasn't all good news for Hibs, though, as Kevin Nisbet - their second top scorer this season - was forced off during the first half after a tackle by Carl Starfelt, and the striker was pictured sitting in the stands with a brace on his knee during the second period.

Postecoglou: We didn't get what we deserved

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou said he was "disappointed" for his players as they "didn't get the rewards they deserved" at Easter Road, but suggested he was satisfied with his side's display.

"We controlled the game in a difficult place to come but couldn't get the goal we needed," he said. "Towards the end we had a couple of chances where the ball didn't bounce our way but when there's a lot of bodies in the box it makes it difficult.

"The pitch isn't great so you need to be pretty precise and we just didn't get the bounce. On another day it would have been a different result."

Maloney: Nisbet injury does not look good

Shaun Maloney expressed his concern for Kevin Nisbet when questioned about the striker's condition after the game, saying: "Doesn't look good.

"It wasn't a good challenge. I understand that they try to stop counter attacks very quickly.

"I really hope it's not too bad but at the moment it doesn't look too positive."

The manager was more upbeat about his side's performance, though, saying: "My team showed incredible fight. They had to dig in at the end, they had to defend extremely hard. Really, really proud of the team today.

"In the first half we played more, in the second half we had to defend for long periods and had the character and mentality to never give up. It was a big test today for a very young team and they passed it.

"When you look at the substitutes and some of the work the attacking players had to do, we'd have loved to have changed things after 60, 65 minutes to get higher up, but we had to keep players on the pitch and they gave us almost everything.

"That meant that we got deeper and deeper. We still had a slight counter-attack threat, but maybe not quite as much as we'd have hoped. But I can't criticise anything, I thought my players were fantastic today."

What's next?

Celtic are at home to St Mirren on Wednesday night as part of a full Scottish Premiership card, Hibernian are away to Dundee.