Saturday January 10th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Ewan Hornell
With both sides within touching distance of the title race, in the most open Premiership in years, Hibs welcomed Motherwell to Easter Road.
A win would see Hibs leapfrog Motherwell and move into 4th. However, Motherwell entered the match not shy on confidence. Having beat Hibs 2-0 when the sides met earlier in the season and having only conceded 1 goal in their last 9 matches.
The first half had the feel that both involved knew how important three points gained could be and how damning a potential three lost would be. It made for a cagey first 10 minutes as both sides tried to establish some form of foothold in the game.
Hibs threatened with crosses coming in from both flanks. Grant Hanley struggled to make meaningful contact after a whipped cross from Jordan Obita. And it was that man again, Obita who found the head of Thody Elie Youan on the penalty spot. He directed his header towards goal but a lack of pace and power meant it was an easy save for Calum Ward in the Motherwell goal.
In the first half when Hibs attacked they seemed to lack intensity and purpose, the same could not be said for the away side. When Motherwell went forward, they went forward at pace. A cute nutmeg from Motherwell’s Tom Sparrow left him space for a left footed effort which forced Hibs Goalkeeper, Raphael Sallinger into action.
Hibs looked to keep Motherwell’s talisman, Tawanda Maswanhise, quiet in the first half. Attempting to stifle him for space and limit his opportunities to utilise his devasting pace. Around 36 minutes he did manage to open his legs, knocking the ball beyond the Hibs backline and forcing a save from Sallinger.
David Gray’s side ended the first half with another chance. Youan drove with the ball, somewhat overplaying it but managing to work his way to the byline and float a ball to the back post. Kanayochukwu Megwa controlled the ball and fired a strike towards goal, which was saved low by Ward.
Half time was a welcome break for Hibs, giving David Gray and Co. the chance to reevaluate as they looked to find a way through the Motherwell’s stout defence.
However, it was Motherwell who came out in the second half with more vigour and it was the away team who opened the scoring. A Motherwell counter attack in the 52nd minute left Hibs wide open. They eventually worked it out to Maswanhise on the right edge of the box. His strike low back across the goal found the bottom corner as he wheeled away in celebration of his 10th goal of the season. Maswanhise is now joint top scorer in the league.
One goal behind, the Hibs crowd understandably began to express their frustration with their sides lack of imagination. A tame header from Warren O’Hora being as close as they came until the 69th minute when a diagonal ball found Jordan Obita. The ball caught Motherwell substitute, Johnny Koutroumbis in no man’s land as he couldn’t decide been marking the space or man. Obita touch took him into acres of space. His left footed cross found Kieron Bowie who smashed the ball home into the roof of the net, bringing the game back to 1-1.
From there the game grew increasingly stretched as both sides struggled to regain control. A massive chance fell to Motherwell’s Emmanuel Longelo late on but he was denied by Raphael Sallinger to keep his side in it.
As the final whistle blew, neither side will go home satisfied. At Easter Road, Hibs would have felt that 3 points was a must. For Motherwell, after being the more dangerous side, one point draws them no closer to the top of the table as they try to defy the odds in their fairytale first season under Jens Berthel Askou.
In post-match comments David Gray felt a draw was probably a fair result,
“I think when you’re at home you obviously want to win your games so I can never say we’re happy with a point. But, at the same time I do think a point was probably a fair reflection of the game.
“I thought we started the better side I asked the players to do I saw in terms of the difference from the last time we played Motherwell to this time. A lot more aggressive, a lot more aggressive in the way we played forward which was better without really creating a clear cut chance.
“The bit that frustrated me probably was the opportunities we gave up, a lot of them self-inflicted and then on transition that’s something Motherwell are very good at.”
Motherwell’s Jens Berthel Askou reflected on the contest post-match,
“Two teams who were quite ready tactically, well prepared tactically on each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
“There was a lot of almost moments for both teams where we were good enough, that was massive for us today, and that’s what I’m probably most proud of. The way we defended our box from crosses and set plays against a team that’s so strong in these situations.”
Both Gray and Berthel Askou did their upmost to dismiss any reference to incoming transfer bids for Kieron Bowie and Tawanda Maswanhise instead choosing to focus on ending January stronger than they entered it.
Its Scottish Cup action for both next as Hibs take on former manager Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline away from home.
Motherwell also welcome a former manager back as they host Stuart Kettlewells Ross County.
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