How Hibs made winning look habitual after Hampden breakthrough

For Hibs, six days separated the high of beating Hearts 2-1 at Hampden in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final and a trip to Pittodrie which carried altogether more prosaic concerns. The league table had remained rather less flattering than the prospect of a cup final.

Marink Reedijk's side arrived in Aberdeen bottom of the Premiership and without a league victory since August. They left four goals and a clean sheet later, above both the Dons and Kilmarnock and with the distinct impression that something might just be turning.

There is a world of difference between rising to a semi-final against Hearts at Hampden and summoning the same intensity on a Saturday evening in Aberdeen. That could well have been the most satisfying aspect for Reedijk. Hibs had shown they could harness emotion when the occasion demanded it. At Pittodrie they showed they could reproduce it in a very different environment.

The eventual scoreline, emphatic though it was, disguises a contest which was balanced for much of its opening hour. Aberdeen hit the crossbar through Jack Milne before half-time and Hibs required Raphael Sallinger and their defensive structure to withstand periods of pressure. At the heart of that resistance was Marko Ivezic.

Increasingly imposing in the centre of defence, the former Holstein Kiel man played with the sort of uncomplicated authority required when an away game threatens to become awkward. One first-half intervention to thwart Kevin Nisbet was particularly important. There were headers won, spaces closed and danger dealt with without fuss. If Hampden had demonstrated the emotional possibilities of this Hibs team, Pittodrie demanded cooler, calmer heads before the fun could begin.

Jamie McGrath eventually supplied the spark.

There was something inevitable about the former Aberdeen midfielder being the one to alter the course of the afternoon. Given room 25 yards from goal after Joe Newell's pass, McGrath set himself before sending a wonderful right-footed strike high beyond Marius Müller in the 57th minute.

It was a goal worthy of changing a game, another compelling contribution from a player beginning to look increasingly influential in this Hibs side, and a reminder to the disgruntled Dons fans of what they’re badly missing in the final third.

McGrath provided craft between the lines but also the intelligence to know when to slow a passage down and when to take responsibility himself. Pittodrie was still gathering itself after his opener when Hibs began to sense that one goal didn’t have to be enough.

What followed in the closing stages wasn’t so much victory as it was a deluge.

Callum Wright climbed off the bench and struck the second in the 79th minute after Müller's intervention denied Thibault Klidje. The German ‘keeper’s apoplectic reaction – not his only one of the evening – revealed a lot about his understandable feelings towards his static defence.

Wright's revival is becoming one of the more intriguing elements of Hibs' improvement. Another goal, another assist and another important contribution from a player making an increasingly persuasive argument for greater involvement.

If his finish only served to remove any lingering concerns about Aberdeen coming back into the game, Hibs didn’t show that. They were not interested in managing what remained. There was no shoring-up of the defence, no running the ball into the corner. No; Hibs scented blood and they sensed more goals were in the offing. That was another encouraging sign for Reedijk.

Nicky Cadden was another introduction from the bench, and seven minutes later had the third. Fellow substitute Rabbi Matondo's effort was blocked but not cleared by the Dons defence and Cadden rifled the loose ball beyond Müller.

It was Cadden's sixth goal for Hibs but his first since the 2024/25 season, an unlikely drought broken against extremely familiar opponents. Four of those six Hibs goals have now come against Aberdeen. Some players have a favourite ground or opponent for reasons which never become entirely obvious. Cadden evidently sees red shirts and discovers something approaching a striker's instinct.

There was still time for one more.

Wright, having already scored, curled an inviting ball across the face of goal in stoppage time and Klidje met it sweetly to make it 4-0. The Aberdeen defence again were posted missing. Some of the home fans who hadn’t already headed for the exits duly did so while others stayed behind to make their feelings known.

For Klidje it was a significant moment beyond embellishing an already handsome scoreline: a first Premiership goal of the season and a first goal since December 2025, when he scored against – who else? – Aberdeen at Easter Road.

Three of Hibs' substitutes had scored. Wright had scored and provided another. Reedijk had watched his starting XI keep the contest under control and then seen his bench rip it open.

For Aberdeen, by then, there was nowhere to hide. The home support had again turned its anger towards Robinson as a fifth defeat in six league matches lurched from frustrating to humiliating.

For Hibs' travelling support, the contrast could scarcely have been greater. Hampden had provided catharsis. Pittodrie allowed them to savour something they have been starved of in the league: comfort. And goals.

Indeed, this was Hibs' biggest victory at Pittodrie since 1968. That historical footnote will please supporters, but the more pertinent issue concerns what happens next. Scottish football is littered with teams who have produced one transformative afternoon only to discover it changed very little. Hibs have now produced two in the space of six days. For the first time in a long time, they were fun to watch.

They are not suddenly cured of all the deficiencies which deposited them at the bottom of the table. Nor does a place in a cup final protect anybody from the more relentless demands of the Premiership. Aberdeen’s troubles have been well documented as well so a note of caution is helpful, even if Hibs have also struggled.

But belief is key and evidence is vital. Hibs now possess both.

At Hampden they stared down Hearts, recovered from falling behind and earned themselves a place in a cup final. At Pittodrie, they survived the testing bits, allowed McGrath and Ivezic to exert their influence at opposite ends of the pitch and then punished a vulnerable opponent without sentiment.

By full-time, Cadden was back among the goals, Klidje had ended an 11-month wait to find the net in green and white, and Wright had added another productive evening to his growing collection. Hibs had also ended a winless run, recorded a first victory in the league under Reedijk, and made a statement.

Six days earlier at Hampden, Hibs had discovered what was possible when it all clicked. In Aberdeen, they began to make it look like a habit.