Hibs down 10-man St Mirren
Benjelloun bags late winner on opening day
Last Updated: August 15, 2009 7:07pm
Benjelloun: Late winner
Substitute Abdessalam Benjelloun kept his promise to new manager John Hughes and netted a dramatic late winner to clinch a 2-1 opening-day victory for Hibernian over 10-man St Mirren.
The Buddies had to play almost all of the SPL match a man down after midfielder Steven Thomson was red-carded for a wild lunge on former Falkirk team-mate Patrick Cregg.
Despite their disadvantage, the visitors took the lead in the 38th minute when Stephen McGinn capitalised on defensive disarray in the home ranks.
However, the Easter Road men restored parity within 60 seconds as youngster David Wotherspoon side-footed home to set the scene for Benjelloun's winning strike eight minutes from time.
Benjelloun spent last season on loan in Belgium and sparked controversy when he tried to engineer a move away from the club in the summer as he refused to return for pre-season training.
However, after arriving back in Edinburgh this week, the Moroccan repaid Hughes' faith in him by earning his manager the perfect start to his new era.
Matches
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Clydesdale Bank Premier League
Table
Clydesdale Bank Premier League
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 38 | 79 |
| 2 | Motherwell | 38 | 63 |
| 3 | St Johnstone | 38 | 56 |
| 4 | Inverness CT | 38 | 54 |
| 5 | Ross County | 38 | 53 |
| 6 | Dundee United | 38 | 47 |
| 7 | Hibernian | 38 | 51 |
| 8 | Aberdeen | 38 | 48 |
| 9 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 45 |
| 10 | Hearts | 38 | 44 |
| 11 | St Mirren | 38 | 41 |
| 12 | Dundee | 38 | 30 |
