Club record signing Thibault Klidjé’s thumping finish set Hibs on their way to a first home win in all competitions, thumping a lacklustre Livingston at Easter Road on Saturday. Austin Fenton reports.
David Gray made three changes from the side that lost 1-0 at Tynecastle prior to the international break. With his side winless in their last eight going into the match, they were certainly justified.
FIRST HALF
The Togo international, who joined the Hibees from Swiss side FC Luzern in a deal worth £1.5 million, broke the deadlock after just nine minutes, receiving the ball from fellow summer recruit Daniel Barlaser before driving into the box and smashing past Jérôme Prior at the near post.
Despite a positive start, Livingston struggled to grow back into the game and were lacking quality in possession. A number of sloppy passes only allowed for frustration to grow from the travelling Livi support.
Long balls shelled forward from Grant Hanley and Warren O’Hora were causing Livingston captain Daniel Wilson more than a few headaches, and they allowed for a flurry of chances for goal scorer Klidjé and Kieran Bowie.
To David Martindale’s relief, however, neither could take their opportunities. The hosts could easily have had two or three more in the opening twenty minutes.
Stevie May was a threat for Livingston in the early stages, getting in behind Jack Iredale on a number of occasions but was presented with poor options too often for his side to take advantage.
Nicky Cadden arguably should have doubled the advantage for Hibs in the closing stages of the first half. Klidjé, who had been tormenting the Livingston back four for the majority of the half, found the marauding wing-back unmarked with a superbly weighted ball across the 18-yard box – only to see the opportunity squandered as he blazed over from close range.
SECOND HALF
Hibs came flying out of the block in the second half, and were presented with a glorious opportunity from 12 yards as half-time substitute Cristian Montano clumsily brought down Klidjé inside the penalty box.
Jamie McGrath stepped up and coolly rolled his spot-kick into the bottom corner. There was no sigh, but relief was more than felt around the ground. David Gray’s name was soon chanted around the stadium as his side began to settle.
It was very nearly three just a minute after as Hanley, on the back of two wins with Scotland, pounced to head goalward from a corner – only to see his effort spectacularly turned away by Priors.
The goalscorers soon made way – but not without a round of thunderous applause. McGrath’s circumstance was a little more unfortunate as he came off due to an injury. That’s not to say that Hibs didn’t have plenty of firepower on the bench, as Martin Boyle and Junior Hoilett soon entered the fray.
The latter certainly will have enjoyed his twenty-minute cameo. Within ten minutes of replacing Kieran Bowie, the technically gifted Canadian scored a goal more typical of a target man. Chris Cadden put in a superb shift at right back on the day, and provided a teasing cross onto the head of Hoilett. The resulting effort seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before landing in the top corner at the far post.
On the cusp of full time, Hoilett doubled his tally with a first-time finish into the roof of the net. Chris Cadden was yet again the provider, picking out the substitute unmarked after his initial attempted cross was blocked.
The result sends Hibernian up to third place in the table, with just a little help from Hearts who won 3-0 at Kilmarnock.
David Gray was in high spirits with what he viewed as a “professional performance”.
“It was certainly a really good day’s work when you look at how the game went given the clean sheet, but the level of performance could have been higher at times.”
“I’m delighted for Thibault to get his goal as well. He’s had to be patient to get another start and he’s been restricted to a few appearances from the bench – but he took his opportunity today which was great to see.”
“Junior off the bench too – you know what he gives you. Quality, he affects games of football. I’m always very positive about him – he comes on today and affects the game. It’s a selection headache which is a good thing to have.”
David Martindale’s Livingston were left reeling, and now sit bottom of the Premiership courtesy of Aberdeen’s late winner at St. Mirren.
“I felt we started the game quite well, and then we just shoot ourselves in the foot. There was some really, really poor decision making throughout.”
“If I’m being totally honest, I felt we were lucky to go in at half time only 1-0 down. We gave them [Hibs] a two-goal head start. At this level, even at the Championship level, you can’t afford to give any side that sort of lead.”
“Their third goal is the only one that I felt, ‘yeah, I can take us conceding that.'”
“My ambition is to stay in the Premiership. Maybe today’s a stark reminder to everybody at the football club how hard that job’s going to be.”
Just two points separated the sides going into their clash, and now they’re facing very different possibilities for the season.
There’s no denying that Hibs have a lot of quality in their squad, and that their poor run of form is tough to justify. Drawing five of your first seven league games is frustrating for any side, let alone the one who finished third last season.
Today’s result has propelled the green side of Edinburgh into the top half of the table and has given them a real platform going into next Sunday’s fixture at Pittodrie against Aberdeen.
For newly promoted Livingston, it’s a tough blow to take.
The Lions have lost a lot of points late on this season – but they were flat throughout and their mistakes were punished emphatically. Their away record is equally poor, having only beaten League One side East Fife on the road.
Livingston will be hoping to bounce back when they host Motherwell next Saturday.
