IT is referred to as 'Blue Monday' because it is traditionally considered to be the most depressing day of the year.

It wasn't a 'Blue Monday' for Celtic, Ange Postecoglou or their supporters. It was a happy Monday.

The Aussie's side sent the Premiership pendulum swinging back to the blue half of Glasgow with a scintillating display as Celtic defeated Hibernian 2-0 inside Paradise to close the gap at the top to just three points - temporarily at least, with Rangers heading to the Granite city on Tuesday night to face Aberdeen.

Japanese debutant Daizen Maeda took just four minutes to step on the Edinburgh opposition. He piled on the agony for Hibs but it was man-of-the-match Reo Hetate who put on the style.

Both players looked the real deal as they turned in highly impressive debuts in a Celtic jersey just as their compatriot Kyogo did five short months ago.

A Josip Juranovic penalty put the seal on a victory that was certainly more emphatic than the scoreline suggests.

It had been 22 days since Celtic had kicked a ball in earnest after a 3-1 win over St Johnstone in Perth on Boxing Day. The Scottish game had wisely opted to bring the winter shutdown forward.

Now football was back with a bang. Not only did we welcome back the return of football but we did so with open arms as almost 60,000 spectators crammed into Celtic Park to herald the first Scottish Premiership game of the new year.

The manager had put his insider knowledge of Japanese football to good use in the January window already as he brought in forward Maeda as well as midfield duo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi. Johnny Kenny from Sligo Rovers also checked in as the club ramped up their title tilt.

From Glasgow's East End to the Far East, all eyes were on Postecoglou to see how many of his new recruits would start this contest.

The answer duly arrived 75 minutes before the kick-off as Hatate and Maeda were let loose for a Celtic debut. Ideguchi had to be content with a place on the bench.

James Forrest also made his Celtic comeback from injury since he last featured in the 1-0 league win over Motherwell on December 12.

With the exception of Jota and Kyogo, it was arguably the strongest side that Postecoglou could have fielded given the options at his disposal.

There was further good news for Celtic as Portuguese winger Jota was listed on the bench for the first time since December 2 when he limped off nursing a hamstring injury after 72 minutes in the 1-0 Premiership home win over Hearts.

There was also another neat little sub-plot playing out in Paradise as former Celtic star Shaun Maloney made an emotional return to his old stomping ground as a club manager in his own right.

Hibs had won each of their last three league games, including both under Maloney in what represented Hibs' best league winning run since a spell of four straight wins from January to February 2021.

Although history favoured Celtic in this clash as the hosts were unbeaten in 14 league matches (W10, D4) at home against Hibs and you had to go back to January 2010 when John Hughes was the capital club manager and goals from with Anthony Stokes and Daniel Galbraith handed the Edinburgh side a 2-1 victory.

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Celtic were also sporting a nine-match unbeaten league match run against the visitors (W4, D5) and hadn't tasted defeat in this particular fixture since a 0-2 reverse at Easter Road in December 2018.

This one got off to a blistering start when Kevin Nisbet slammed an effort off the post with the goal gaping inside three minutes.

Seconds later the hosts went up the park and took the lead as Tom Rogic celebrating his 9th anniversary at the club ghosted into the box and played the ball to Maeda who had the freedom of Paradise to clinically slot home the opening goal to get his Celtic career off to a perfect start.

Celtic Way:

It was one-way traffic and both Hatate and Maeda were enjoying themselves.

This was a re-energised Celtic and they were pressing Hibs at every opportunity and the capital club did not have an answer to the relentless pressure from Postecoglou's outfit as Maloney's men were penned in their own half.

This was a Hoops side who were attacking with real verve, flair and creativity.

It was scintillating stuff and Celtic made it 2-0 after 25 minutes as captain Callum McGregor fed Greg Taylor, who lofted a beautiful ball into the path of Liel Abada. The Israeli cut inside Josh Doig, who handled as referee Willie Collum pointed to the spot. 

Josip Juranovic sent Matt Macey the wrong way from 12 yards as he coolly stroked it into the net.

The football was fast, frenetic and fantastically fluid from Celtic. Unsurprisingly, they were two to the good at the interval.

In the second half, Hatate missed a cinch as he swivelled and dragged an effort wide and Abada collided with the post and after striking the upright and Cameron Carter-Vickers was denied a third after an infringement by defensive partner Carl Starfelt as the pace understandably dropped.

With 15 minutes to go Postecoglou made changes which saw Ideguchi given the closing 15 minutes as all three Japanese stars got to make their debuts.

A 'Blue Monday' for Celtic? Never.

Postecoglou and his merry men are certainly going the right way about establishing a new order at the top of the Premiership pile.

There was also the added bonus of the triumvirate of Japanese stars enjoying their first taste of action at Celtic Park. In fact, it ​was as easy as 1, 2, 3. Or 'Ichi-Ni-San' as they now say around these parts.