Celtic came from behind to sweep Hibs aside as they continued their preparations for the Scottish Cup Final in fine style.
Martin Boyle had given the visitors the lead in the first half, but two quickfire goals from Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah turned the game on its head before the interval.
Reo Hatate hit a lovely third in the second half to make sure of the win, but it was never really in much doubt from the moment that Celtic levelled.
Here are the talking points from Celtic Park…
Impressive Hatate shows Celtic what they may soon be missing
Reports during the week had linked the Japanese midfielder with a move away from Celtic this summer, with clubs in Italy, France and Germany all believed to be keeping tabs on him, and Celtic manager Rodgers had addressed the possibility in his pre-match press conference, saying they would assess the situation when the season ends.
If any scouts were indeed watching on here, they couldn’t have failed to be impressed overall, and particularly with his brilliantly taken goal that put the destination of the points beyond doubt in the second half.
Some lovely interplay after Jordan Smith had failed to deal adequately with a Daizen Maeda cross saw Arne Engels reverse a nice pass into Hatate’s feet at the edge of the area, and he swept an emphatic finish into the far corner for his 11th of the season.
He can give the ball away unnecessarily at times as he tries to make things happen, and it doesn’t always come off for him, but when it does he can be a joy to watch, and he won’t be easy to replace should he indeed seek a new challenge.
Idah rewarded for perseverance
It is fair to say that there must have been a point during the first half when the big man wondered if this might not be his day. Certainly, judging by some of the groans around Celtic Park as he passed up some good early chances and gave the ball away on a couple of occasions seemed to suggest that the fans lacked faith that he would eventually come good.
Fair play though, he kept plugging away, and after rather dollying two efforts at Smith when he had been played in on goal, it was third time lucky as he produced a lovely finish under the Hibs keeper with what was arguably his most difficult opportunity of the half.
It was an important goal for the Irishman, with the home support just starting to get on his back a little. He knows that his contribution overall this season hasn’t been at the level he, his manager or the Celtic fans would have wanted and expected, but he now has 19 goals to his name, and could still finish the campaign on a high at Hampden, as he famously did last term.
Hibs defence give a helping hand
Hibs decided to give Celtic a guard of honour as they emerged from the tunnel, a touch that was warmly appreciated by the home support. Unfortunately, their defence carried their generosity of spirit into the game, doing everything but applaud their opponents as they allowed them free passage into their area.
Having somehow made it to the 40th minute unscathed, manager David Gray would have been looking for his men to make the most of Celtic’s profligacy by tightening up and seeing it through to the interval with their lead intact, but instead, they capitulated. And it was all too easy for Celtic.
A simple ball over the top from Ralston caught them out for the equaliser and then another from Kuhn shortly after meant that not only had they given up their lead cheaply, but they trailed going in at the break.
The likes of Rocky Bushiri, Jack Iredale and Warren O’Hora have earned plenty of plaudits in the last few months, and deservedly so, providing the platform upon which the Hibs resurgence has been built, but they didn’t make Celtic work too hard for their goals here.
Has Nicolas Kuhn rediscovered his mojo?
In the early part of the season, Kuhn looked a stick on to sweep the board when the player of the year awards were handed out, but an untimely dip in form and confidence saw teammate Maeda motor past him, and he looked a shadow of the player who had lit up the league until around February.
There was no question who shone brightest on the Celtic wings here though. A run of nine games without a goal was brought to a halt with his double at Tannadice as Celtic clinched the league title, and it is now three in two games as he dragged Celtic back on level terms here.
He won a footrace with teammate Idah to get onto Anthony Ralston’s ball over the top – and given how things were going for Idah at that point, it was probably just as well – and calmly rounded Smith before rolling home.
This was much more like the Kuhn we had come to expect in the first half of the season, and he may well have rediscovered his mojo just in time for the season showpiece in a fortnight.
Auston Trusty still to convince
Brendan Rodgers had hinted at wholesale changes to his side for this one with the league already sewn up and the Scottish Cup Final on the horizon, but outside of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston, this was about the strongest team that the Celtic manager had available to him. Even including goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who came in for Viljami Sinisalo after his shoulder injury.
There was a nice moment near the end, mind you, as youngster Sean McArdle was handed a debut, but the strength of the line-up was perhaps a compliment to a Hibs team who have largely been going great guns of late to put them in pole position for third place.
For Auston Trusty, who did come into the Celtic side in place of Carter-Vickers, it felt like an opportunity to stake his claim to partner his compatriot at Hampden, having fallen behind Liam Scales – who also played here – in the pecking order.
Unfortunately, the centre back didn’t cover himself in glory as Hibs opened the scoring, diverting Josh Campbell’s shot towards danger rather than away from it, succeeding only in teeing up Boyle to stroke home the opener.
He didn’t do a lot wrong apart from that, but he has yet to convince a large section of the Celtic support that he can nail down a place at the heart of their defence. And seemingly, his manager too.
