Hibernian equalled a record set almost 80 years ago as they went 17-games unbeaten with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Dundee. James McKenzie reports from Easter Road.
Rocky Bushiri opened the scoring for Hibs in the first-half, fantastically volleying home from a corner.
Dundee started the second-half brighter, but the Hibs substitutes were impactful, Kieran Bowie coming off from the bench and firing past Trevor Carson for a two-goal cushion.
Bowie added a spectacular second of the afternoon with a beautiful diving header shortly after another substitute in Dwight Gayle showed neat feet before beating the Dundee keeper
A last-minute Rangers equaliser at Pittodrie meant that Hibs remained in third-place, with a chance to stretch the gaps to 3 points between themselves, the Dons and Dundee United.
Tony Docherty’s side sit second-bottom of the league table, with five points separating themselves and bottom side St Johnstone, and anything other than a defeat being enough for them to leapfrog both Kilmarnock and Ross County into ninth on goal difference.
Both sides named unchanged eleven’s with Hibs carrying a 16-game unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership, whilst Dundee have look resurgent in their quest to haul themselves out of the relegation playoff place.
It looked set to be an entertaining game at Easter Road, with only the Old Firm clubs having more goals in the league this season than Hibs and Dundee’s 50, and the hosts almost opened the scoring after just 2 minutes, Mykola Kuharevich firing over from the edge of the box after some good close control from Junior Hoilett.
Kuharevich looked to return the favour to Hoilett with a teasing cut-back for the experienced attacker, but the Canadian got his connection all wrong and it went well off target.
A training-ground free-kick routine almost beared fruit for the travelling side as Finlay Robertson slid Simon Murray through on goal, but a strong hand from Jordan Smith kept out Dundee’s talisman.
Smith had to be alert once again as Dundee showed their first signs of attacking intent, scrambling across his goal to claw away a Robertson corner that almost found the net.
Kuharevich picked the pocket of Clark Robertson in the middle of the park, and cracked Trevor Carson’s left post with a low-drive after play a little give and go with Junior Hoilett.
The Ukrainian’s touch didn’t appear to be what he was looking for, and a matter of seconds later, Dylan Levitt went close, curling just beyond Carson’s bottom-left corner.
Hibs weren’t to be denied any longer, and on his 100th appearance for the club, Rocky Bushiri marked it with a goal as he spectacularly volleyed home from a Martin Boyle corner.
Hibs came inches away from doubling their advantage on the stroke of half-time, with Kuharevich sliding it agonisingly wide of the post.
Whilst Dundee looked much-improved from their first-half showing, there wasn’t much in the way of clear-cut chances coming the Dark Blues way.
The closest either side came in the opening 20 minutes of the second-half was when a miscommunication between Joe Shaughnessy and Trevor Carson led to the Dundee captain heading over his onrushing stopper and narrowly wide of the post.
A few moments after the defensive scare, substitute Kieran Bowie made an instant impact, powering past Carson after some good wide-play from Lewis Miller to make Hibs’ lead look much more comfortable.
The substitutes continued to wreak havoc on a Dundee team that firmly looked down and out, with veteran Dwight Gayle skipped past his marking before showing the killed instinct to kill the game completely by slotting past Carson for three.
Nicky Cadden returned to the Hibs team for the first time in over a month, and he looked like he had never been away when he picked out Bowie with a pin-point cross from the left to make it four.
Match Analysis
Given that the game today was being contested between two of the form teams in the division, it was no surprise to see how even the opening stages of the game was, with chances and momentum in the game being shared by both sides.
Ever the man for the big occasion, Rocky Bushiri grabbed his fourth goal of the season in a milestone game for himself from a personal perspective. The entire stadium singing his name following the goal was a full circle moment, especially looking at what sort of standing the Congolese was held in at the club just this summer.
It was a solid first-half performance for Hibs, with the only slight being that they didn’t have more than the one goal to show for it.
Dundee approached the start of the second-half with a lot more intensity and aggression, clearly Tony Docherty feeling that it was lacking from the first 45.
The momentum that the Dee had built up in the second-half was well and truly halted when Bowie scored the Hibees second, a player who always looks to add something positive whenever he features.
A lot has been made of the strength in depth David Gray has available at his disposal, especially in attack, and Bowie and Gayle were both positive performers from the bench, giving Gray a head-scratcher for his team selection going forward. A positive conundrum though.
The returning Nicky Cadden looking bright from the bench, and returning to his usual-self, sending in tantalising cross after tantalising cross will have only added to Hibs’ supporters full-time glee as the good time continue to roll on in Leith.
