Celtic captain Stephen McManus scored his side's second
Celtic moved four points clear at the top of the table after a hard-fought win over Hibs at Celtic Park.
Scott McDonald and then captain Stephen McManus found the net from Shunsuke Nakamura corners within 10 minutes.
Rob Jones reduced the deficit seven minutes later with a powerful header from Derek Riordan's superb free-kick.
Hibs went close through Colin Nish and Aiden McGeady had a penalty appeal turned down before McDonald fired home the third late-on to seal victory.
Celtic started brightly as they looked to arrest their recent slump in form and they took the lead within three minutes.
Nakamura sent in a superb corner-kick from the left and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink saw his header palmed away by Grzegorz Szamotulski.
McDonald pounced at the back post to force the ball through Lewis Stevenson's legs and into the net.
Hibs looked unable to cope with Nakamura's set-piece delivery and the hosts doubled their lead in the ninth minute when another corner from the Japanese caused chaos and McManus fired the ball home.
McManus' goal saw Celtic grow in confidence with Scott Brown, McGeady and Andreas Hinkel looking to get forward at every opportunity.
But Hibs reduced the deficit after 17 minutes when Jones evaded the attentions of McManus to head powerfully past Boruc from Riordan's superb free-kick.
Vennegoor of Hesselink spurned a great chance to score Celtic's third six minutes before the break when he collected Hinkel's deep cross in acres of space, but the Dutchman blazed his effort well wide.
Szamotulski then brilliantly tipped Nakamura's free-kick over the bar as Celtic chased a third.
Hibs looked sharper in the second half and should have equalised when Nish dithered inside the box and his shot was blocked.
The visitors pressed and saw a number of promising counter attacks peter out in or around the Celtic penalty area.
McGeady looked to have earned his side a penalty when McCormack clipped him inside the box, but the referee waved away Celtic's appeals.
McDonald calmed nerves among the home fans in the 76th minute when he coolly slotted home Scott Brown's low cross.
Substitute Denes Rosa almost capped his Hibs debut with a stunning goal, but his 35-yard strike cannoned back off Artur Boruc's post and bounced to safety.
Celtic saw out the rest of the game to extend their lead at the top of the table as Hibs were left to rue their lack of cutting edge.
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan: "We were playing against a side that have given us problems here before and I thought we were absolutely fantastic in the first half; the variations of play were fantastic.
"To be only 2-1 up at half-time, well, it was a hard team talk in many ways.
"We played alright in the second half without being outstanding.
"We were 2-0 up against Dundee United here recently and I think visions of that went through the fans and players' minds and it's hard to deal with.
"Hopefully now that we've got over that hurdle, when we go two up in home games we can relax a bit."
Hibernian manager Mixu Paatelainen: "I felt the start of the game was poor, obviously the way we defended set pieces and were two goals down after 10 minutes; we had a mountain to climb.
"If you're not on your toes then you concede.
"After that I felt we passed the ball tremendously well and created problems for them, got a goal back and tried to put them under pressure.
"I was pleased the way we passed and linked up but the third goal was a killer."
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus (Loovens 63), Naylor, Nakamura, Scott Brown, Crosas (Robson 77), McGeady, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 79). Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, O'Dea, McCourt, Sheridan.
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