With Neil Lennon continuing to gag himself before the press, it was left to his assistant, Johan Mjallby, to savour Celtic’s 3-1 win over Hibernian, which put Lennon’s team two points clear of Rangers again at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Two goals from Gary Hooper and one from Anthony Stokes — with Hooper missing a penalty with five minutes to go — was enough to see off a sorry Hibernian, who were finally forced to give up hope of a top-six place after this defeat.
“It was an excellent performance from us in the first half,” Mjallby said after Celtic had stormed to a 3-0 half-time lead. “We created a lot of chances and scored three goals, which was enough. The only disappointing thing was that we lost a goal, but this was still a great performance.
“Rangers won yesterday, so it put pressure on us to get three points. We got that, so we are pleased. And we had a lot of chances to get more goals.”
Mjallby denied that the imminent Easter Sunday clash with Rangers in the final Old Firm game of the season will determine where the title rests.
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“That game won’t decide the title,” he added. “We will still have to beat other teams as well. But the pressure is always there. There are a lot of games coming up. There are too many still to go to feel nervous. But, in the latter stages, maybe you will need to be strong mentally.”
Last night’s defeat meant Hibernian were consigned to the bottom six, the first time they have failed to make the SPL “cut” in seven seasons.
“We have got to defend at a higher level, when you face that kind of movement and that pace. We really caused our own problems,” Colin Calderwood, the manager, said.
“We were behind far too early in the game. We will need to see rapid improvement. In the second half Celtic could afford to coast, they controlled the game. We couldn’t get a second goal to make them nervous.”
Calderwood admitted that, with Celtic looking rampant, he had feared for his team’s self-respect. “Look what happened to Aberdeen,” he said of Celtic’s 9-0 win in November. “We feared something like that, but it never happened, so credit to my players.”