Hibernian 0-2 Celtic

Celtic chalked up their first victory over Hibernian this season in a keenly-contested clash at Easter Road.

Artur Boruc denied John Rankin early on, but Hibs paid the price for failing to capitalise on a good first half.

Boruc frustrated Colin Nish as Celtic took control after the break, with Lee Naylor shooting home his first goal for the club after 63 minutes.

Substitute Giorgios Samaras rose to head a superb second in 74 minutes from Aiden McGeady's cross to seal the win.

Celtic will feel especially relieved to come away from Edinburgh with all three points, in what was a tough examination from Mixu Paatelainen's men.

Hibernian - who had lost just one game in eight - were hoping to continue their unbeaten run against the Glasgow club, with a win and a draw earlier this term.

Goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay failed to recover from injury and was replaced by McNeil, while Paatelainen drafted in Abderraouf Zarabi, Brian Kerr and Guillaume Beuzelin.

Dean Shiels did not feature in the squad, while Paul Hanlon and Merouane Zemmama dropped to the bench.

Celtic, who beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle in midweek, welcomed back Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in place of Samaras who returned to the bench.

The first chance fell to Hibernian, but Boruc was alert to block Rankin's low shot with his legs inside the penalty area, after the midfielder burst beyond the visitors' defence.

Nish followed with a powerful header into the net, but it was a fraction offside, as Celtic's defensive capabilities were put to frequent early tests.

Hibs were dealt a blow however, in the 15th minute, when the injured Beuzelin had to go off, with Ross Chisholm getting his chance.

Former Hibee Brown was at the heart of most moves by Celtic, but the Scotland midfielder should have done better with a drive which failed to trouble McNeil.

McGeady, the expected threat by Celtic, was well attended to by Ian Murray in the first half as the Hoops tried to press forward.

Brown picked up a loose ball in the box to fire in a left foot shot, but McNeil was alert to the danger.

With Hibs looking dangerous, Martin Canning saw his glancing header go past the far post from Brian Kerr's corner, and there were no takers from Rankin's low cross just before the break.

Canning stopped a goalbound Brown effort with Celtic going on an early second half offensive.

In response, Nish almost surprised Boruc with a well-taken dipping shot, but the Polish keeper denied the striker, who was making his presence felt.

Celtic were beginning to win the midfield battle, it was the unlikely figure of Naylor who drove forward from the half way line, unattended, to fire the Hoops in front.

The full back was allowed to surge to the edge of the box, before receiving a fortunate deflection off Hogg - and it was enough to give him time to drill a right foot shot into the corner of the net.

Brown, increasingly impressive, was unfortunate to see McNeil turn away his fine shot with Celtic's confidence clearly growing from Naylor's goal.

But shortly after coming on for Vennegoor of Hesselink, Samaras put matters beyond doubt with a textbook header.

In a re-run of his goal at Celtic Park against Inverness on Wednesday, the Greek rose to bullet home from McGeady's spinning cross.

Canning clipped the bar with five minutes left from a corner, as spirited Hibs refused to falter.

However, his frustration at the miss summed up a futile afternoon for the Edinburgh club, particularly after such an enterprising first half performance.