Hibs manager Marink Reedijk believes his side deserved something from their 2-1 defeat to Celtic at Easter Road, and he wasn’t particularly impressed by Martin O’Neill’s attacking players.

Reedijk claimed Hibs matched Celtic throughout the contest and suggested the Hoops struggled to create chances.

The match statistics tell an interesting story about just how accurate those comments were.

Marink Reedijk claims Hibs were Celtic’s equals at Easter Road

Speaking to Sky Sports after the defeat, Reedijk praised his players for their performance against the Scottish champions.

Reedijk said: “I think overall we were the equals of Celtic. I think that’s a compliment towards the team. We kept on fighting.

“I think we kept on in the match, and we got the opportunities to at least get a draw. And I think we deserved that. But you play against one of the better teams in Scotland. I’ve seen them against Celta Vigo.

“They did in the first half dominate Celta Vigo, which is also not a bad team. So, I believe that what we need to do is to take the positives out of this. I saw a team which was intense, wanted to fight, created chances, and I think that Celtic didn’t create unless the end until the end when we started to play a little bit more opportunistic.

“They didn’t create a lot, so that’s a big compliment for us because yeah, they have quality up front, but they weren’t able to unlock that.”

The Dutchman had acknowledged Celtic’s quality before the Easter Road encounter, and he was clearly pleased with how Hibs handled O’Neill’s players.

Hibs vs Celtic statistics challenge Reedijk’s attacking claims

According to FotMob’s match statistics, Hibs finished with an expected goals figure of 1.19 compared to Celtic’s 1.15.

That narrow advantage suggests the home side created chances of comparable quality, despite losing the game. Celtic, though, dominated possession with 61%, 15 shots on goal compared to Hibs’ 13 and had 22 touches inside the opposition penalty area against the home side’s 13.

Reedijk’s suggestion that Celtic rarely threatened overlooks what happened during the opening 45 minutes.

Kasper Høgh had several opportunities to end his goalscoring drought, including a close-range effort that forced Raphael Sallinger into an excellent save.

Callum McGregor also tested the goalkeeper early on before Camilo Durán fired Celtic ahead in the 43rd minute.

Hibs caused problems of their own, particularly after the break, and Cameron Carter-Vickers needed to produce an important late block to deny Rabbi Matondo.

Celtic’s attacking play wasn’t brilliant throughout the afternoon. Their 15 shots produced just 1.15 xG, showing that plenty of their efforts came from less promising positions.

It’s also worth remembering that Celtic’s equaliser came from Jason Kerr putting the ball into his own net, something that isn’t reflected in Celtic’s usual expected goals total.

Reedijk has a case when he points towards the quality of chances his side created. There was very little between the teams on that measure.

However, Celtic had already forced Sallinger into important saves before Durán put O’Neill’s side ahead.

The Hibs goalkeeper had a busy first half, and Celtic could have been out of sight had Høgh taken his opportunities.