Celtic travelled to Hibernian today looking to maintain their unbeaten start to their Scottish Premiership campaign.
The hosts snatched a surprise lead in the 18th minute through Paul Heffernan, who took advantage of sloppy defending from the Hoops to beat Fraser Forster in a one-on-one situation.
Neil Lennon's side were the dominant side throughout, and bagged a deserved equaliser in the 77th minute through substitute James Forrest.
Find out how all the action unfolded with our minute-by-minute text commentary below.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live text coverage of the Scottish Premiership clash between Hibernian and Celtic at Easter Road. Both starting XIs are in, so we'll have those for you in two ticks.
CELTIC: Forster; Fisher, Ambrose, Van Dijk, Mulgrew; Commons, Brown, Kayal, Samaras; Pukki, Stokes
HIBS: Williams, Stevenson, Nelson, Hanlon, McGivern, Robertson, Tudur Jones, Thomson, Craig, Zoubir, Heffernan
Celtic boss Neil Lennon has made three changes for today's trip to Easter Road. Darnell Fisher comes in to make his competitive debut, with Beram Kayal and Georgios Samaras also restored to the starting lineup.
Hibs have also made some changes, with Owain Tudur Jones and Abdellah Zoubir promoted to the first XI. The latter will play behind Paul Heffernan as part of a new-look attack.
This game marks Celtic's final domestic fixture ahead of their must-win Champions League clash against Ajax. The Hoops are desperate for a result against the Dutch outfit having lost their first two group matches. Will they be distracted at Easter Road today?
Hibs are in good form, with four wins in their last five matches. They also defeated Celtic at Easter Road last season, so they are certainly capable of getting a result against the champions.
PREDICTION: I think Hibs will avoid defeat today given their recent form and the fact that the Celtic players' minds might well be on next week's Ajax showdown. I'm going with a 1-1 draw.
Darnel Fisher is one to watch for the Hoops today as he makes his competitive debut for the club in the absence of Mikael Lustig. I think Lennon left him out to give him the best possible chance of returning for the Ajax match.
The two teams are heading out of the tunnel now. Stick around for live updates from the 90 minutes ahead.
KICKOFF: We are under way here at Easter Road. Celtic win a corner within the first minute, which the Hibs defence scrambles away without too much difficulty.
Celtic have started confidently and are seeing plenty of early possession. There's a real battle going on in midfield as the hosts desperately try to get out of their own half.
Commons has just dragged a shot narrowly wide of the Hibs post from close range. That would have gone down as a glaring miss had the Celtic striker not been half a mile offside.
Hibs venture into the final third for the first time and win a throw-in in a dangerous position, but the move breaks down as Heffernan fouls Ambrose.
It's a greasy surface here at Easter Road today thanks to the rainfall we had before kickoff. I expect that will result in a yellow card or two as it's been a real physical battle so far.
Celtic with the majority of the possession so far, but no chances to show for it. Hibs have defended doggedly, and will need to keep that up if they hope to get a result out of this.
SHOT! There's good link-up play between Pukki and Commons as the Fin lines up his strike partner 25 yards out. Commons lets fly from distance and misses the top corner by mere inches!
Half-chance for Celtic as Scott Brown cuts in from wide on the right and plays a ball into the box towards Commons, who can't quite jump high enough to get his head to it.
GOAL! Hibernian 1-0 Celtic (Heffernan)
Sloppy defending from Celtic allows Heffernan to latch onto a bad backpass and go one-on-one with Forster. His effort goes straight through the Hoops stopper and into the net, but Heffernan was narrowly offside there.
The hosts scored against the run of play, but Heffernan's goal has filled them with confidence and buoyed them on in the attack. Thomson has just had a crack at goal, which Forster made short work of despite it taking a deflection.
CLOSE! It's a let-off for Hibs as Van Dijk plays a long ball over the top, which Commons latches onto, beating the offside trap. He bears down on goal and attempts to lob Williams, but it lands on the roof of the net.
SUBSTITUTION: Commons has picked up a suspected hamstring strain and will be replaced by Forrest. A frustrating afternoon for him all round.
Losing Commons is a huge blow to Celtic. All three of their goalscoring opportunities have come through him this afternoon, and he could be doubtful for next week's Ajax showdown.
SAVE! Fisher tumbles in the Hibs box and Celtic appeal for a pen, but the loose ball falls to Samaras and he lets fly from point-blank range, forcing a reaction save from Williams. A good stop from him!
All credit to Hibs. They have really made it difficult for the champions this afternoon, remaining tight at the back and taking the fight to them in the midfield. The hosts have created few chances up front, but the important thing is that they took one of them.
Great skill from Stokes, who dances into the Hibs box and wards off two challenges before eventually being dispossessed. Nothing came of that, but Celtic need to keep up this kind of pressure if they want to hold on to that unbeaten record.
Celtic are asking all the questions at the moment, but Hibs are defending in great numbers and frustrating their opponents. They aren't getting too many bodies forward and look content to sit on this lead.
OFF THE LINE! Williams races off his line and is caught in no man's land, allowing Pukki to round him. The striker attempts to place his shot into the unguarded net, but McGivern produces a vital clearance on the line.
There will be one minute of stoppage time to play.
HALF TIME: Hibernian 1-0 Celtic
It isn't going to plan for the Scottish champions here at Easter Road, where a controversial goal from Paul Heffernan has given the hosts the lead. The Hoops have passed the ball well and maintained possession, but their finishing has been off.
There was a big blow for the visitors when Kris Commons hobbled off with a suspected hamstring injury. That could make him doubtful for the vital Champions League meeting with Ajax.
It hasn't been the prettiest of performances from Hibs, but they are battling hard and making things difficult for Celtic. They aren't offering much going forward, yet have been tight at the back and up for a fight in the middle of the park.
It's this goal from Heffernan that separates the two sides as we head into the second period:
PIC: The Heff Scores! Paul Heffernan's places his shot under Fraser Forster and into the the Celtic net #hibees pic.twitter.com/puME4Yciwl
— Hibernian FC (@HibernianFCClub) October 19, 2013
Hibernian get the second half under way. Celtic have 45 minutes to maintain their unbeaten start to the league campaign.
Celtic have started the second half in much the same way they ended the first - keeping hold of the ball, yet looking somewhat pedestrian in their build-up play.
SHOT! Kayal gains possessing just outside the area and shoots across Williams, attempting to beat the Hibs keeper at his far post. Williams gets a hand to it and Nelson hacks the loose ball clear.
CHANCE! Samaras threads a pass through to Stokes, who latches onto it and goes for goal. Williams makes himself big and produces another effective block, the ball going behind off the Hibs stopper for a corner.
Yet more Celtic pressure as Stokes goes for goal, unaware that an offside flag has already saved the hosts' skin. Williams pulls off another save despite the whistle having blown.
Celtic break as Samaras picks up possession just inside the Hibs half and uses his pace to make it to the byline. His chipped cross misses the head of Stokes and is eventually gathered by Williams.
Hibs put Celtic under pressure for the first time in the second period as Heffernan and Thomson both chase down a through ball, forcing Forster to race off his line and beat them to it.
More pressure from Hibs as the hosts win a series of throws in the danger zone. They haven't produced anything clear-cut in front of goal, but have started to cause Celtic some problems in their own half these past few minutes.
SHOT! Hibs have their best chance of the half as Zoubir lines one up for Tudur Jones to hit from the edge of the box. His strike skims across the surface of the pitch before being smothered by Forster. This has been a good spell of attacking possession from the home side.
SUBSTITUTION: Kayal is replaced by Ledley for Celtic. He will support Samaras and Pukki in the attack to help give the Hoops more bite upfront.
CHANCE! Craig picks up a lofted pass and spots Forster off his line. He tries to find the top corner, but the Celtic keeper saves at full stretch, pushing it behind for a corner.
Celtic still struggling to find a way through. Forrest is the latest to try his luck following a goal-mouth scramble, his effort block and scrambled away. McGivern is shown the yellow card moments later for a careless challenge.
Ryan McGivern appears to have twisted his knee and looks in some pain. He is undergoing treatment on the sidelines and might have to be replaced.
GOAL! Hibernian 1-1 Celtic (Forrest)
A wonderful individual goal from substitute James Forrest draws Celtic level. He went on a mazy run, rounded Craig and curled one into the bottom corner! Game on!
SUBSTITUTION: McGivern, who was off the field receiving treatment while Celtic equalised, has now been replaced by McPake.
TRIVIA: Forrest's goal here at Easter Road was Celtic's 300th under Neil Lennon. A nice nugget for the fact fanatics out there.
Celtic have looked in control since drawing level, claiming a half-chance as Stokes fired over the bar from close range. Can they dig deep and find a winner?
Celtic have looked in control since drawing level, claiming a half-chance as Stokes fired over the bar from close range. Can they dig deep and find a winner?
SAVE! Mulgrew plays a long ball into the Hibs box and Forrest catches it on the half-volley, forcing yet another save from Williams. He keeps the shot out at full stretch and smothers it at the second attempt. Hibs will have him to thank if they take anything from this game.
There will be three minutes of stoppage time to play.
FULL TIME: Hibernian 1-1 Celtic
It's been an entertaining contest here in the Scottish capital. Celtic were on top for much of it, but Hibs caused them all sorts of problems and will no doubt be pleased with 1-1.
Celtic remain unbeaten and have a four point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Second-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle will be hoping to reduce that when they take on Partick Thistle tomorrow.
That's all we've got time for today, but stick around for our full match report and reaction from the game. Many thanks for joining Sports Mole for this Scottish Premiership clash.
Written by
Mark Langshaw
Mark Langshaw
