Embattled Hibernian finally had something to cheer after Rocky Bushiri’s last-gasp equaliser salvaged a 3-3 draw at home to Aberdeen in a topsy-turvy Easter Road showdown featuring three stoppage-time goals.
David Gray’s bottom-of-the-table side led at the break through a deflected Joe Newell strike but looked set to go down for a third consecutive loss – and ninth game in a row without a win – after goals from Dons pair Jamie McGrath and Nicky Devlin.
Hibs then equalised in the second minute of added time through a Nicky Cadden free-kick but seemed destined for defeat once more when Reds sub Ester Sokler fired in an overhead kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
But, incredibly, centre-back Bushiri – who had not scored in almost three years at Easter Road – popped up with a close-range finish to stop Jimmy Thelin’s side moving level with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Gray made four changes to the side that started the 4-1 defeat at Dundee, including dropping under-fire goalkeeper Josef Bursik and replacing him with Jordan Smith.
Thelin made three changes to the side that suffered a first league defeat of the season at St Mirren on Saturday, including handing former Hibs attacker Kevin Nisbet a start.
After Bushiri blocked a McGrath effort from close range in the 11th minute, Hibs began to look the likelier side. Elie Youan saw a stinging shot pushed behind by Dimitar Mitov before Bushiri headed over from Nicky Cadden’s corner.
Bushiri was in the thick of it and he made another brave block from a McGrath shot in the 25th minute.
Hibs made the breakthrough in the 40th minute when Newell’s powerful shot from 25 yards out took a big deflection off Devlin’s head and wrongfooted Mitov on its way into the net.
Rocky Bushiri scored a late equaliser for Hibernian at Easter Road
The hosts threatened again either side of half-time, with Warren O’Hora heading wide and Newell firing a shot against the post from the edge of the box.
Shayden Morris replaced Tepi Keskinen in the 54th minute and it paid off within seconds as the jet-heeled winger got in behind the Hibs defence and crossed from the right for Duk. The striker’s back-heel was scrambled clear by Jack Iredale but only as far as McGrath, who shot low into the corner from eight yards out with the aid of a slight deflection.
The Dons got themselves ahead for the first time in the 76th minute when Devlin pounced to send a looping over the exposed Smith from just inside the box after the ‘keeper had come out of his goal and been unable to get a clean punch on Graeme Shinnie’s corner.
Then came the chaotic period of stoppage time that ended with Hibs celebrating a much-needed reprieve and the shellshocked Aberdeen players wondering how they had twice let victory slip from their grasp in the closing moments.
What the managers said…
Hibernian boss David Gray:
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Hibernian boss David Gray responds to the fans’ frustration after a section of them unveiled a ‘Sack the Board’ banner during the 3-3 home draw with Aberdeen.
“It is quite hard to actually explain exactly how I’m feeling at the moment. I think one thing I would say is, the atmosphere in the dressing room right now, the way it feels, the players need to take immense credit.
“Their attitude and their character was tested again immensely tonight, and they found an answer right at the very end, so from that point of view, there’s a lot of positives to take from it.
“Then, when I start to strip it back and think about the game as a whole and how it went, I think it’s a game we deserve to win.
“We’ve obviously shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times as well in moments within the game, but it’s a point and I think you can feel that sort of energy at the end at the stadium. We need to build on that because when you find yourselves in the position we are, it’s a point towards where we need to get to.”
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin:
“It was an emotional game. I think after the first half, having come back into the game, fighting back and doing some really good individual things, sometimes – like at the equaliser – there is so much emotion that you lose a little bit of concentration.
“That’s football, it happens all over the world sometimes, these strange games. After you have so much emotion when you score – and it’s an amazing goal – you celebrate, and then it’s just a kick-off and the game is over. Then this happens.
“That’s a really tough learning point from us today. The game is not over until it’s over.
“Of course, everybody was disappointed in the dressing room. We have to learn from this and mature as a team, and try to come back.”
