Gordon Strachan came up with a favour for Mark McGhee yesterday and he will be looking for his friend to return it in five days’ time. The Celtic manager watched his team maintain their title pursuit yesterday with a vital success against Hibernian, that simultaneously killed the Edinburgh side’s lingering European hopes and confirmed Motherwell’s place in next season’s Uefa Cup instead.

Headers from Stephen McManus and Scott McDonald in the champions’ penultimate game of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League campaign allowed Celtic to go four points ahead of Rangers again at the top of the table. Celtic have just one game left, away to Dundee United on May 22, while Rangers have three.

However, one of those games in hand is the trip on Saturday to perilous Fir Park, where McGhee’s third-placed side will be waiting to take advantage of any weakness Rangers may be suffering after the Uefa Cup final with Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday.

Celtic did what they had to do, and were given a standing ovation on their lap of honour to mark the last home game of the season. Now they have to wait 11 days to see if they retain their title but Motherwell could intervene sooner.

“I think Motherwell deserve third place after what they have had to put up with this season,” Strachan said referring to the death of Phil O’Donnell. “I have no idea how Rangers will get on in the Uefa Cup final but I wish them all the best. We simply had to get a result that keeps the issue going and we did that.

“The performance was a fitting end to the season at Celtic Park. At times is was like basketball and everyone got their money’s worth. I am not frustrated about having to wait so long until we play Dundee United. Everyone has their problems and we will see what happens.”

Hibernian are now left with only the Intertoto Cup as a route into Europe. Mixu Paatelainen’s team must now report back for preseason training in June after a mere four-week break. The Easter Road manager might be thinking up an advance punishment for Martin Canning and Ian Murray, who were both sent off yesterday for violent conduct.

There was a spark about Celtic that characterised this occasion. They knew they were under scrutiny and seemed to relish it. The champions midfield boasted the tigerish tackling of Robson and Hartley, who were peerless at the unglamorous part of their job.

However, it was the visitors who had the best chances in the early minutes, with Dean Shiels clipping a fine cross for Steven Fletcher to attack and the striker’s glancing header flew wide. Artur Boruc then had to dash out of his goal to clear from Ross Campbell before the Celtic goalkeeper produced a wonderful save to beat away an angle shot from Shiels.

That seventh minute scare prompted a swift Celtic response, bursting down the pitch where Aiden McGeady’s cross was met by Scott McDonald and his header appeared to be over the line before Andy McNeil clawed it back, but the offside flag rescued Hibernian.

Incredibly, Celtic then racked up a succession of chances over the next few minutes. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink powered a header wide from McDonald’s cross and then McGeady saw his fierce shot parried away by McNeil. Next to try was Gary Caldwell whose downward header from Shunsuke Nakamura’s corner – one of three in a minute – bounced across the goal and went past.

McDonald then broke from his own half and sent a raking effort across the bows of McNeil and barely quarter of an hour had elapsed. Hibernian were understandably shaken by the pressure but in the 23rd minute Fletcher fashioned another chance for the visitors with great skill before conjuring up a left-foot shot that Boruc pushed over the bar.

Hibernian then had to endure a five-minute period without Chris Hogg, their central defender, after he was caught by the arms of Vennegoor of Hesselink and required to have stitches inserted in the wound. Remarkably, in that spell, Hibernian passed the ball with such precision and confidence that you would never have known they were a man short.

However, Hogg had barely returned to the pitch and Hibernian’s shortfall ended than McManus broke the deadlock in the 36th minute. Celtic’s seventh corner of the contest, won by the determination of Lee Naylor, saw Nakamura pick out McManus and the towering Celtic captain planted a downward header beyond McNeil for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Celtic might have gone in at the interval with an even greater advantage. A foul by Rob Jones on McDonald allowed Nakamura to fashion a 30-yard free kick that dipped over the wall and hit the inside of the post, with McNeil stranded, before bouncing to safety.

The adrenalin was still coursing through Celtic’s veins two minutes into the second half when Nakamura’s counter-attack saw the Japan player thread a sublime pass into the run of McDonald, who rounded McNeil and then saw his angled shot knocked off the line by Murray. The rebound fell to McDonald, who unwisely eschewed the unmarked Nakamura and took the follow up himself. When that was blocked by McNeil, Strachan’s displeasure was so intense that he threw a water bottle on to the pitch in frustration.

A nagging suspicion filtered around Celtic Park that this could have been a costly miss. Even though the evidence pointed to the contrary, with Nakamura having a free kick superbly touched wide by the sprawling McNeil and then McGeady peppering the goal with efforts that were marginally too high. Hibernian never lost their self-belief and constructed a passage of pressure after the 65th minute. Boruc was immense during this period as he defied Guillaume Beuzelin’s header with a reaction save underneath his bar from John Rankin’s corner. When Rankin’s next corner picked out Clayton Donaldson, the substitute almost scored with his first touch, with a hook shot that was netbound until Boruc got down sharply to his right.

If Celtic suddenly seemed vulnerable, then McGeady remained an excellent out-ball. The winger came close in the 74th minute after leaving a clutch of Hibernian defenders in his wake but his shot found only the sidenet. However, seven minutes from time, Hibernian’s ambitions ended when Canning committed a dreadful over-the-top tackle on Robson to earn his second caution – the other coming for a hack on McGeady – and Celtic were swift to take advantage.

Robson’s determination drew a foul from Murray near the corner flag and that allowed the midfield player to swing over a free kick that was glanced on by McManus to the unmarked McDonald at the back post and he planted a header beyond McNeil to an explosion of noise.

Celtic’s title pursuit was going to the final day, while Hibernian knew their Uefa Cup hopes had evaporated.

However, if Hibernian thought their day could not get worse, Murray had other ideas. The defender was sent off in stoppage time for callously scything down McGeady in full flight.

“If Ian wants to foul the player, he did not have to take a swing like that,” Paatelainen said. “I am disappointed that our challenge for Europe is now over. However, we will enter the Intertoto Cup [in July] and that means the players can only have a four-week break.”

Celtic (4-4-2) A Boruc 8 M Wilson 9 G Caldwell 8 S McManus 7 L Naylor 7 S Nakamura Y 8 P Hartley Y 8 B Robson 8 A McGeady 7 J Vennegoor 7 S McDonald 8. Substitutes G Samaras (for Vennegoor, 77min) Not used M Brown, S Brown, B Balde, M Donati, P Caddis, C Sheridan

Hibernian (4-5-1) A McNeil 7 M Canning R 5 C Hogg Y 7 R Jones 6 I Murray R 5 F Morais 7 G Beuzelin 8 J Rankin 6 D Shiels Y 7 R Campbell 4 S Fletcher 6 Substitutes C Donaldson (for Campbell, 70min), C Nish (for Morais, 87) Not used Y Makalambay, B Kerr, A O’Brien, T Gatheussi, R Chisholm

Referee D McDonald
Attendance 58,515