RYAN CHRISTIE came back to Celtic on a high following his heroics with Scotland.
Then left Easter Road on a LOW after his side dropped yet more points in this pivotal title race.
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Sure, Neil Lennon’s side may have battled back from 2-0 down for what could yet be a valuable point.
But Christie’s frustrated demeanour said it all afterwards – this was another big opportunity missed for the Hoops.
And his mood wasn’t down to tiredness, although that would have been completely understandable.
Celtic have now gone to Pittodrie and Leith and scored FIVE times, yet haven’t won either game.
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And Christie admits that’s a damning statistic which explains where they are right now.
He said: “We’ve come away from home here to a hard place and scored two goals – that should be enough to be honest.
“We’re NOT expecting to come here and have the game wrapped up after half an hour – we knew it might be a tight match, and that, if we have to win it by one goal, then that is fine.
“But we have to keep the door at the other end shut.
“It is something we need to work on – we have to stop the errors at the other end.”
Christie was desperate to display the same form he had shown with his country with his club.
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But so, too, was Hibs keeper Ofir Marciano.
The 31-year-old had denied Scotland time and again in Netyana last Wednesday night.
And at Easter Road he kept Lennon’s side at bay in an even first half. That gave Jack Ross’ men the confidence to come out and push forward after the break.
And they moved in front in the 50th minute when Scott Brown barged over Martin Boyle in the box.
Scott Bain saved Kevin Nisbet’s penalty, but the men in black were slow to react.
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And Jamie Murphy slid in to turn the rebound past Bain and claim his first goal for the club.
Celtic were suddenly reeling, and it got worse for them just before the hour.
Ex-Rangers winger Murphy headed on Ryan Porteous’ free-kick and Nisbet beat Bain with a beautiful finish.
At the other end Marciano was pulling off all kinds of stops from Odsonne Edouard in particular.
But Paul McGinn’s handball gave the Frenchman to pull on back from the spot.
And David Gray’s last minute clumsy foul on Diego Laxalt let them throw the ball into the area.
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This time Marciano could do nothing as Laxalt smashed the ball past him to level the game.
And Christie reckons if his side had had a couple of more minutes they’d have gone on and won it.
He said: “At half-time I was thinking we had dominated the first half. I thought it was just a matter of time before we scored and went on to win.
“But then it went 2-0 to Hibs and I’m thinking ‘how on earth are we 2-0 down in this game?’
“It is frustrating. Obviously Bainy did so well to save the penalty but we didn’t really react to the follow-up, which is annoying.
“And then their second one is just so simple from a free-kick, and a great finish, but we could have done much more to stop it.
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“Stuff like that kills you in games like this when you are dominating at such a tough place.
“We are always going to keep fighting. We’ve got that about us in the changing room. I think more than anything, at 2-0 down, it was just the complete shock of it.
“But we knew we needed to get something out of this game because we deserved it. We deserved at least a point.
“The goal was inevitable coming from us, because we kept fighting.
“If the game had had an extra five minutes I think we would have gone on and won it.
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“But we shot ourselves in the foot – it was frustrating to find ourselves 2-0 down and having to claw our way back into it.”
It was a tough shift for Christie on the back of three performances for Steve Clarke’s side during the international break.
And although the 25-year-old understands Lennon’s concerns at how he was used he insists he felt fine.
He said: “Yeah, I think every manager with players away would be the same. It was the same with John McGinn at Villa and KT (Kieran Tierney) at Arsenal as well.
“The clubs are always going to have a wee moan when players are asked to play three games in a short space of time.
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“But for me personally, I want to rack up the caps so I’m certainly not going to complain about getting to play for my country as many times as I can.
“I still felt fresh on Saturday and managed to complete 90 minutes with no problems.
“The three games in seven days was tough especially after the celebrations of the first one.
“But I always want to play. It’s nice going away with Scotland and to be successful but you want to come back to club football and hit the ground running as well.
“I’m frustrated myself for not scoring against Hibs – I thought I might have been able to get on the score sheet but it wasn’t to be.
“I’m just looking to get up to top form with my club now.”
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