Celtic have a winning hand but are prepared to take the gamble with forced separation on cards

Sunday's match against Hibs was supposed to be O'Neill's last as interim Celtic manager but by the time it came to conducting his pre-match interviews at Easter Road, the goalposts had moved.

"Something to do with paperwork", O'Neill explained as he informed supporters that he will be in charge for at least one more match, with the midweek visit of Dundee providing a chance for a final Celtic Park farewell ahead of the anticipated, but now delayed arrival of Wilfried Nancy from Columbus Crew.

No-one of a Celtic persuasion is complaining. Indeed, after this 2-1 victory on a sunny but chilly afternoon in Leith, the Celtic support may prefer it if O'Neill hung around even longer after the gap to Premiership leaders Hearts was closed to two points with a game in hand. Might the man himself feel the same way?

O'Neill may give off the air of a man content to come in, do his bit, then step back into retirement, but the sight of the 73-year-old in his Celtic tracksuit, prowling the edge of his technical area, cajoling his players and kicking every ball in scenes reminiscent of 20 years ago, spoke of a man very much in his element.

Forced separation on cards

Despite what he may have said to the contrary, it may not take much convincing for O'Neill to continue in his caretaker position for a while longer. With matches against Hearts, Roma and the Premier Sports Cup final against St Mirren on the horizon, extending his reign by another fortnight might not be the worst idea.

Celtic resemble a poker player willing to fold a winning hand and bet their chips on the next set of cards being better. What was supposed to be a short-term fix, with O'Neill assisted by Shaun Maloney, looks more like a viable longer term solution with a forced separation on the cards. Of course, Nancy could be the gamble that pays off for Celtic, but one thing is for sure, he has a tough act to follow.

Fresh off a famous victory over Feyenoord in Rotterdam, O'Neill and Celtic arrived in Edinburgh with a spring in their step looking to back that up with another winning performance. Hibs, meanwhile, wanted a reaction from their midweek defeat to Motherwell.

Both sides got what they were looking for - to an extent - although the overall feeling for the home side was one of frustration at losing a match they deserved something from.

A mad 33 seconds midway through the first half when Hibs conceded two goals in super-quick succession cost them dear. A lively start from the hosts saw them pass up a glorious chance to take the lead after 12 minutes, Martin Boyle firing wide from a teasing Nicky Cadden cross with the goal at his mercy.  

Hibs shot themselves in the foot on 27 minutes when goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger, under pressure from Daizen Maeda, played a risky pass to Miguel Chaiwa. The midfielder slipped, allowing Reo Hatate to steal possession and feed Maeda to find the empty net.

A gift, perhaps, but Celtic forced the mistake with the lively pressing of Maeda and Hatate in a repeat of the second goal Feyenoord conceded in midweek.

Hibs boss David Gray had switched to a back four for the first time this season as he made do without the suspended Grant Hanley but his defence were carved open again straight from kick-off.

Hyun-jun Yang - one of several Celtic players now operating on a different level since the arrival of O'Neill - crossed the ball for another, Arne Engels, to bravely head home as he took a boot to the face from Jamie McGrath.

Celtic were now in the groove and Hibs needed half-time. The woodwork spared them from falling three behind when Marcelo Sarrachi crashed an effort against the outside of the post.

A lifeline for the home side was provided by VAR, who spotted that Liam Scales had handled in the box, 11 minutes after the restart. Boyle shrugged off his earlier miss by slotting the penalty past a motionless Kasper Schmeichel.

Hibs pushed for an equaliser that never came, with Celtic thanking their Danish goalkeeper for a big save late in the game to deny Chris Cadden after excellent set-up work from Kieron Bowie.

There was a warm welcome from Hibs fans for Joe Newell, who made his first appearance in 11 months after injury. But the match ended with Celtic fans chanting the name of their interim manager, who gave them a quick wave before disappearing up the tunnel.

A longer goodbye awaits on Wednesday.