Samaras heads Hoops to victory

The Greece international headed an Andreas Hinkel cross from the right past Hibs goalkeeper Graham Stack five minutes from the break.

There was controversy in the 62nd minute when Hoops midfielder Aiden McGeady, booked in the first half for a foul on Derek Riordan, picked up a second yellow from referee Dougie McDonald, apparently for taking a dive when challenging Hibs defender Paul Hanlon on the touchline.

There were 18 minutes on the clock when at full stretch Samaras headed Danny Fox's in-swinging corner from the right on to the crossbar and over.

Moments later Hoops striker Scott McDonald, linked with a move to Wigan, failed to connect properly in front of goal from another dangerous Fox corner and the Easter Road men escaped again.

The game appeared to be heading towards the interval goalless but in the 40th minute Samaras got on the end of a Hinkel cross from the right to head past Stack.

Hibs came out determined after the break and quickly pressed the visitors back. Riordan tested Artur Boruc with a close-range drive and the Celtic keeper had to claw away the resultant corner to safety before Hibs skipper Chris Hogg headed John Rankin's next corner over the crossbar to end the spell of pressure.

Kevin McBride's long free-kick found its way to Sol Bamba at the back post but the lanky Hibs defender had to twist to get his volley away and it went wide.

Merouane Zemmama replaced Patrick Cregg just after the hour mark as Hibs tried to inject some flair into their play but then came the moment of controversy involving McGeady which left Celtic a man down with around half an hour to play.

Moments later there was more drama when Boruc was at full stretch to tip David Wotherspoon's long-distance drive onto the post before the ball was cleared to safety. And Boruc made another good save from Riordan before substitute Colin Nish, on seconds earlier for Anthony Stokes, curled an effort from the edge of the box inches over.