Owen Elding celebrates his goalSNS

Owen Elding celebrates with fellow scorer Felix Passlack

At a glance

  • Elding scores after 13 seconds before Passlack and Suto complete comfortable Hibs win

  • Gray's side move closer to Motherwell in pursuit of European football

  • Kilmarnock's two-game winning run ends as they remain in relegation play-off spot

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Owen Elding's goal after just 13 seconds helped Hibernian ease to victory against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership and strengthen their push for European football.

Hibs are now within three points of fourth-place Motherwell, who occupy the final guaranteed European spot, while Kilmarnock's revival lasted only two games.

Striker Elding put the hosts in front before Kilmarnock had even touched the ball and it was 2-0 before the break.

Elding's superb through ball found the on-rushing Jordan Obita, who squared for fellow wing-back Felix Passlack to tap in.

Despite Hibs' dominance, Kilmarnock thought they had pulled one back through new Scotland cap Findlay Curtis.

However, it was ruled out for offside against Brad Lyons, who cut the ball back to Curtis, as the Killie skipper was behind goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger.

The Hibs number one was the second-last defender as Obita was off the pitch. Simple enough for the VAR to clear up.

Kilmarnock had the better of the second half but failed to truly test Sallinger, before conceding a third with almost the last touch as substitutes Martin Boyle and Ante Suto combined, with the latter knocking in from close range.

Given St Mirren's win over Aberdeen, second-bottom Kilmarnock are now three points adrift of 10th place. However, they are still 12 clear of Livingston, who play Hearts on Sunday.

Analysis: Hibs secure big win but performance frustrates

It's hard to criticise a team that have won 3-0, but there were elements of the win that will frustrate as much as delight.

David Gray's side were exceptional in the first half, cutting Kilmarnock to ribbons on numerous occasions.

Dane Scarlett and Elding's physical partnership worked wonders while wing- backs Obita and Passlack zoomed up and down the flanks to superb effect.

At 2-0 up though, Hibs took their foot off the gas and allowed Kilmarnock far more time and space to try to make an impact on the game.

In fact, the only shot Hibs took in the second half was Suto's 94th-minute strike, which came as Kilmarnock threw men forward.

Many would argue 2-0 is not enough to rely on, as was shown in August when Hibs were two goals ahead of Kilmarnock and drew 2-2, but perhaps times have changed.

After all, this was Hibs' third clean sheet in a row and they are now six unbeaten. But that statistic doesn't include the goalless draws with Motherwell and bottom club Livingston.

The second-half stats from Easter Road reveal Kilmarnock were more attackingOpta

The second-half stats from Easter Road reveal Kilmarnock were more attacking

For all these gripes though, Hibs are just three points behind Motherwell, a team raved about all season. Perhaps it's not all bad.

As for Kilmarnock, it was a worry when they went 2-0 down. Neil McCann spoke of the confidence in the group after the past few weeks, but it seemed to evaporate instantly given Elding's early goal.

They showed character to come back into the game and threaten a goal, but at the vital moment they lacked killer instinct.

They will need to find that quickly and will have eyes on Aberdeen in the hope the Dons continue their freefall.

What's next?

Hibs travel to Aberdeen next Saturday, while Kilmarnock host Dundee at the same time (15:00 BST).

Player of the match

R. Sallinger
6.00
1 R. Sallinger
6.00
15 J. Iredale
6.00
4 G. Hanley
6.00
5 W. O'Hora
6.00
21 J. Obita
6.00
22 D. Barlaser
6.00
14 M. Chaiwa
6.00
25 F. Passlack
6.00
17 J. McGrath
6.00
44 D. Scarlett
6.00
47 O. Elding
6.00
28 K. Andrews
6.00
10 M. Boyle
6.00
32 J. Campbell
6.00
11 J. Newell
6.00
77 A. Šuto
6.00
Back to team tabs

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.