Source: FOOTYMAD
Good start
Three points in the bag before some more friendly action is not a bad way to start the season Neil Lennon was surprised by the quality of his side's performance in their 2-0 win over Hibs at Easter Road yesterday. The Hoops had a comfortable start to their SPL campaign and never looked in danger after Anthony Stokes opened the scoring with a close-range strike in the 14th minute following a mistake from home keeper Graham Stack. Ki Sung-yueng doubled the visitors' lead with a fine low drive just after the hour mark to secure the three points. While Stack made some amends when he saved Gary Hooper's penalty in the 68th minute, the Parkhead side ran out easy winners as Hibs never had a shot on goal.Lennon, whose side now have four challenge games before their next SPL game against Aberdeen, said: "I thought we were outstanding in the second half. It was probably more than I could have expected at this stage of the season. So I am obviously delighted with the performance, result and clean sheet. I thought the players adapted brilliantly. We got a break with the goalkeeping mistake but we had good control of the game and going forward we were excellent."With captain Scott Brown suspended for the game, Lennon knew he was covered in that key area. He went on: "We are sort of spoilt for choice. We had Joe Ledley wide left and he had an excellent game in an unfussy sort of way. Ki has been consistent over the last 18 months and is developing nicely in to a top class player. He showed all his attributes, good presence, good passing and got a goal."Lennon did not want to make too much of a contentious offside decision in the first half when the flag went up before stand-in skipper Mark Wilson put the ball into the net. The Parkhead boss said: "I did ask the delegate about it but he wasn't sure. But I am not going to make a big issue of it - not just yet anyway. I thought it was well-worked goal."
