Hibernian 6 Hearts 2

By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Mixu Paatelainen grabbed a glorious hat-trick as Hibernian thrashed their Edinburgh rivals at Easter Road to move within five points of Premier League leaders Celtic.

Andy Kirk fired Hearts into an early lead, but Hibernian further enhanced their growing reputation as serious title challengers as they fought back with Paatelainen's hat-trick and goals from David Zitelli, John O'Neil and Russell Latapy.

Colin Cameron grabbed a late goal for Hearts but it was Hibs and their supporters who were celebrating at the end as they moved seven points clear of Rangers and five ahead of third-placed Kilmarnock.

But in an amazing 90 minutes Alex McLeish's men succeeded where Rangers failed earlier in the day by keeping the pressure on Celtic.

The Ibrox outfit are now an amazing 12 points adrift of their Glasgow rivals and following Andy Kirk's early opener for Hearts it looked like being the perfect day for Martin O'Neill's side.

But if anybody out there was dismissing Hibs' title credentials then they will be having second thoughts tonight as they came back rampantly from an early setback.

Hearts striker Gordon Durie was heavily involved in the opening exchanges and he played an integral part in creating their opener, after just four minutes, which stunned the home crowd into silence.

The veteran picked out the over-lapping run from Stevie Fulton and he in turn squared the ball into the path of Kirk, with a slight touch from Gary Smith, to slide the ball home at the near post for his fourth goal in three games.

Hibs pressed for an equaliser and in the 23rd minute Hearts had goalkeeper Antti Niemi to thank for producing two wonderful saves that kept them in front.

First Latapy picked out Paatelainen in acres of space inside the box and the striker hit a right-foot shot which the Finnish keeper theatrically tipped over the bar.

From the resulting corner kick, Paatelainen again got on the end of Zitelli's cross and Niemi somehow managed to push his point-blank header over again.

However, the home supporters were celebrating prematurely in the 24th minute when they thought they had grabbed the leveller.

Veteran striker Paatelainen once again found space in the box from a Zitelli corner to rifle home from close range, but referee Hugh Dallas disallowed it after spotting a foul on Steven Pressley.

But that lifted Hibernian and they really had two great chances in the 34th minute to get back on level terms.

The first fell to Stuart Lovell on the edge of the area after Niemi had saved a powerful drive from Ulrik Laursen, but the midfielder blazed wide of the target.

Moments later it was Latapy who was left kicking himself when Lovell played him through on goal but the Trinidadian star pulled his effort wide of the upright.

The home side, and in particularly Smith, were let off the hook in the 41st minute when Durie robbed the youngster and hit a powerful right-foot shot that Colgan did well to hold with Kirk on hand to steer the rebound home.

Hibernian, however, rose to the challenge and two minutes later they were on level terms when Latapy crossed into the danger area and the ball bounced off Pressley and into the path of Paatelainen to steer his effort past Niemi from close range.

But the celebrations did not stop there and on the stroke of half-time they took the lead.

Hearts defender Pressley failed to clear Zitelli's corner and Franck Sauzee headed into the path of Paatelainen to stab the ball home from close range for his second.

Hibs continued their stunning turnaround and just six minutes into the second period they increased their lead in superb fashion.

Latapy spotted the run of Zitelli and he delivered the ball in front of him and the Frenchman shrugged off the challenge of the disappointing Pressley and steered the ball past Colgan for his third goal in three games.

The impressive O'Neil could have wrapped the points up in the 67th minute when the ball broke to the midfielder inside the box and Niemi had to save low to his right to deny him.

But the home side secured the three points when Paatelainen grabbed his hat-trick in superb style in the 74th minute, to take his season's tally to seven.

The lively O'Neil crossed from the right and the Finnish international side-footed past the helpless Niemi into the corner of the net.

Niemi saved his side from further humiliation in the 79th minute when Zitelli burst through on the right and hit a drive that the goalkeeper did well to save.

Hibs continued the onslaught and Niemi brilliantly pushed a Stuart Lovell drive around the post, after a great ball from Latapy.

But the humiliation was compounded in the 81st minute when Zitelli's corner broke to O'Neil, who took his time and showed great composure to drill the ball home from the edge of the box.

Hearts must have been wanted Dallas to blow for time but there was still time for Latapy to get in on the act as he blasted emphatically home from edge of the area to seal a perfect day for the green part of Edinburgh.

Cameron scored for the visitors with a minute left on the clock but that could do nothing to wipe the smiles off the faces of McLeish, his players and the fans.

Teams:

Hibernian: Colgan, Lovell, G. Smith, Sauzee, Fenwick, Laursen, O'Neil, Jack (Andrews 36), Latapy, Paatelainen, Zitelli.

Subs Not Used: Franks, Lehmann, Bannerman, Murray.

Goals: Paatelainen 43, 45, Zitelli 51, Paatelainen 74, O'Neil 81, Latapy 84.

Hearts: Niemi, Flogel, Pressley, James, Fulton, Petric (Murray 59), Cameron, Tomaschek (McSwegan 56), Kirk (Jackson 56), Durie, Juanjo.

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, Severin.

Goals: Kirk 5, Cameron 89.

Att: 12,926

Ref: H Dallas (Scotland).


Taken from sportinglife.com