ON this evidence, the sooner Hibernian appoint a new manager the better. If their battling second-half performance against St Mirren last weekend had hinted that they might cope just fine following Neil Lennon’s exit, then that notion was quickly put to bed in this tame capitulation against Aberdeen.
By the end of a one-sided contest, they were fortunate that the margin of the defeat wasn’t greater. A fourth home league game without a win leaves them in the bottom half of the Ladbrokes Premiership table ahead of a trip to Celtic Park on Wednesday.
Caretaker Eddie May expects to still be in charge for that game, although he hinted that the cavalry may be on their way. Given the manner with which Hibs seemed to meekly accept this loss, they must hope that whoever is appointed can galvanise the squad for the remainder of the campaign.
“It's been difficult with Neil going but the new man will come in, hopefully quite soon, and we can get refocused as a group and as a club and get a style of play befitting Hibernian,” said May.
Aberdeen, in contrast, look a side on the up. They showed determination here to battle back from losing the opening goal, but once they had forged in front, they never looked like relinquishing their lead. The result lifts them into third place in the table ahead of Wednesday’s game against Rangers at Pittodrie where they could overtake their visitors with a win.
Derek McInnes’ only concern as he evaluated his side’s performance was that they hadn’t scored more, with Gary Mackay-Steven missing a penalty and James Wilson failing to hit the target in the final minute when it had looked easier to score.
“It was clear we never wanted to let Hibs enjoy the game and I don’t think they caused us too many problems,” said the manager. “It was more of a challenge for us because we never took our chances.
“But I thought that’s as comfortable as we have been at Easter Road for a while. You kept waiting on Hibs throwing the kitchen sink and cranking up the pressure, but it never came.”
The first half was so incident-packed that five minutes of injury time didn’t seem quite enough. By its conclusion Aberdeen would have traipsed up the tunnel unsure whether to be satisfied with proceedings or not.
On the plus side, they had a half-time lead. Oli Shaw had thundered Hibs in front with a low effort that crept in at the near post, but Aberdeen wasted little time in responding. Within two minutes they were level. Sam Cosgrove saw his goalbound header blocked by the ever-diligent David Gray but respite would be brief as Andrew Considine turned in the rebound.
Eleven minutes later and Aberdeen were in front. Ofir Marciano did well to push away Greg Stewart’s long-range shot and then Stevie May’s follow-up but could do little to prevent Mackay-Steven prodding in the loose ball.
There was bad news for Aberdeen too, however. They lost Cosgrove to what looked a hamstring injury within the opening 20 minutes – two days after allowing strikers Scott Wright and Bruce Anderson to go out on loan – while goalkeeper Joe Lewis also couldn’t continue beyond the end of the first half having collided with the post as he dived to cover Stevie Mallan’s dipping free kick.
McInnes, though, remained hopeful that both men might make it for Wednesday night. “Joe's got a nasty gash above his eye but he's absolutely fine,” he added. “The medical staff felt he was going to have to get it stitched and it was going to take a long time. Obviously it's not ideal but Joe seems eager to play [on Wednesday]. Sam certainly feels positive but needs a wee bit of TLC and a lot of things to go his way to be ready.”
Aberdeen should have made sure of the victory in the second half. Awarded a penalty just five minutes after the re-start after Lewis Ferguson was ushered to the ground by Darren McGregor, Mackay-Steven’s attempt to place his shot low in the corner was thwarted by a smart save from Marciano who did seem to be some distance off his line.
Hibs had two half-chances both missed by Florian Kamberi but could have no complaints about the result. “Overall the boys tried their best – obviously it just wasn't good enough,” admitted May. “All we can do now is gather ourselves and try to make an impression at Celtic Park.”
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