Motherwell slay Hibs as Scotland hero has night to forget amid moronic firecrackers and Celtic spies

So much of the talk pre-match was whether Hibs could climb to within six points of league leaders Hearts, but they were punished for being well off the pace against a Motherwell team that was well worth its 2-0 victory.

Both sides now have 21 points but Hibs remain third on goals scored. Motherwell moved from seventh to fourth and fifth-placed Rangers also have the same points total in what is becoming an increasingly competitive top half of the table.

Inspired by Tawanda Maswanhise, Motherwell seized upon a VAR-awarded penalty on 19 minutes and never looked back. They were assisted by a red card to defender Grant Hanley 15 minutes later that gave Hibs a mountain range to climb. By that point they were two goals down. In the end they were fortunate to escape with that final scoreline.

Hanley's luckless show in Lanarkshire summed up Hibs as a whole. Exactly a week ago he was part of the Scotland team that secured World Cup qualification by beating Denmark 4-2 at Hampden. Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou - a Dane - will have enjoyed watching the centre-half suffer.

Hanley was pinged for blocking an Elijah Just shot with his hand after referee Duncan Nicolson was sent to the monitor for review. Maswanhise coolly sent Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger the wrong way, managing to keep his cool despite some moronic away fans throwing firecrackers down from the top tier of the Tommy McLean Stand onto the empty seats below in a futile attempt to put the Zimbabwean off.

Hibs fell further behind three minutes later when Just fired home from close range after Hibs made a meal of clearing Tom Sparrow's cutback after Nicky Cadden had given the ball away. And then further misery struck for Hanley.

Maswanhise's pace had made life for the 33-year-old uncomfortable all evening and when he was caught the wrong side of the forward, he clipped him as he scampered through on goal. An offside flag was raised to temporarily save Hanley but VAR intervened once more and Nicolson gave the defender his marching orders.

Motherwell have been maligned at times for the way they have managed matches this season. They threw away a three-goal lead against Hearts earlier in the season. They played with far more measure and discipline here.

Their only serious moments of consternation came when VAR assessed a potential red card for Maswanhise when the score was 1-0 for a clash with Jack Iredale, and then on 41 minutes when Martin Boyle rounded keeper Calum Ward but was too nonchalant with his finish in front of an open goal that allowed Johnny Koutroumbis to clear.

Motherwell stroll rest of match

Maswanhise was removed at the interval for Callum Hendry but his job was done. He is now the league's top scorer with eight goals and has taken his game to new levels during his second season in Scotland.

Motherwell as a unit were superior to Hibs in every department. They passed the ball diligently and waited patiently for openings. They targeted the left side of Hibs' defence. All the goals stemmed from there. The visitors' Jack Iredale and Nicky Cadden were replaced on 38 minutes as their boss David Gray tried to stem the bleeding.

Untroubled, Motherwell controlled large swathes of the second half. The impressive Oscar Priestman was desperately unfortunate to see a lovely spell of possession football end with a 20-yard strike that smacked the post.

Hibs threw on Thibault Klidje and Miguel Chaiwa on 65 minutes in an attempt to revive themselves but Motherwell continued to make their extra man count. Callum Hendry poked an effort a whisker wide, Regan Charles-Cook drove the ball straight at Sallinger. He ought to have scored but it didn't matter.

Both teams face the top two at the weekend. The other half of Edinburgh in Hearts are due at Fir Park on Saturday, while the following day Hibs host champions Celtic, whose caretaker boss Martin O'Neill was in the stands on a spying mission. A response to this reversal will be required - and without the suspended Hanley.