Hibernian 0 Glasgow Celtic 4

Last updated : 21 March 2004 By Footymad Previewer

Celtic warmed up for their UEFA Cup clash at the Nou Camp on Thursday night with a comfortable 4-0 win against Hibs, which gave them their 27th league win of the season and puts them 19 points clear of nearest SPL rivals Rangers.

Martin O'Neill's men looked confident throughout the match but it was two defensive errors by Hibs that gave Celtic their two-goal half-time lead.

Hibs had started brightly, having the better of the possession in the early minutes of the match and winning several corners to create some half-chances.

But on 18 minutes Didier Agathe put Celtic into the lead, shaking off defender Roland Edge and slotting a Steve McManus throw-in into the back of the net off the back post.

At this point Celtic took charge of the game and both Agathe and Stilian Petrov could have put the visitors several goals further ahead had their finishing been more ruthless.

They did eventually make it 2-0 on 34 minutes when Daniel Andersson showed poor decision-making under pressure. The Hibs keeper came off his line to clear a ball, but instead of knocking the ball straight up the pitch he tried to gather it.

But before he could pick it up, Henrik Larsson had charged in and stolen the ball, which he slotted into the back of the empty net.

The second half did not get any better for the Edinburgh side as Celtic quickly extended their lead to three goals.

With the Hibs defence already under pressure after Petrov broke clear on goal, Larsson struck for a second time.

Picking up a throughball from Neil Lennon, the Swede calmly transferred the ball onto his left football and hit home from six yards out.

On 82 minutes yet another defensive error made it 4-0 to Celtic. Jamie Smith beat his marker and sent a pass through to Agathe who was also unmarked and he scored his second of the afternoon, putting the ball straight between Andersson's legs.

The game ended on a sour note as the opposing players had to be separated as frustrations boiled to the surface following a bad tackle by Tom McManus on Agathe.