Rangers 0-2 Hibernian
Hibs moved into second place in the Championship with a hard fought 2-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox tonight.
Goals from Scott Robertson and Lewis Stevenson secured the three ppoints and gave Alan Stubbs his third win over the Glasgow side this season.
Head Coach Stubbs made three changes to the starting XI who beat Arbroath last Saturday and changed the formation as well and amazingly, every Hibs’ player in the team has scored this season.
Skipper Liam Craig, and new signings Franck Dja Djedje and Fraser Fyvie all dropped down to the bench to be replaced by Keith Watson, Dylan McGeouch and Dominique Malonga, as Stubbs played a 5-3-2 formation.
Rangers made six changes to their starting line up due to a mixture of suspensions, injuries and poor form including the return of former Hearts captain Marius Zalukas.
The Ibrox side started brightly and Kris Boyd had a shot on goal within 20 seconds then Liam Fontaine did well to head a goalbound Kenny Miller strike off the goal line.
Hibs continued to look dangerous however and David Gray sent a great low cross into the six yard box but Paul Hanlon was just unable to get on the end of.
Six minutes later, Hibs took the lead when Robertson started a move which resulted in a fine strike from Jason Cummings. Lee Robinson did well to save the youngster’s shot, but was unable to hold onto the ball which fell to Robertson and the former Dundee United midfielder was able to slot the ball into the unguarded net for his sixth goal of the season, much to the delight of the travelling 952 supporters.
Miller was forced to leave the field due to an injury on 30 minutes and was replaced by Nicky Clark.
Four minutes later Clark went down in the box but the referee correctly waved play on.
Both sides had chances as the game flowed from end to end, but it was Alan Stubbs’ men who went in with a goal advantage at half time.
Rangers started the second half strongly and Mark Oxley did well to tip over a Sebastien Faure header then Boyd should have equalised two minutes later when he peeled off his marker but his free header from Nicky Law’s cross flew well over the bar.
On the hour mark, Stubbs replaced Cummings with Martin Boyle hoping that the on loan striker’s speed would cause problems, but Rangers continued to dominate possession.
Five minutes later, the ball spun off Fontaine’s foot and Oxley picked it up but referee Steven Mclean amazed everyone in the ground by awarding a free-kick inside the box for a back pass. It was obvious that Fontaine had miscontrolled the ball and justice was done when Boyd’s shot was blocked by the Hibs’ wall.
Zaliukas was then shown a yellow card for a blatant foul on Gray and Scott Allan was inches away with a curling free kick which flew into the side netting.
Allan’s strike was his last act on the pitch as he was immediately replaced by Fyvie.
Rangers also made changes with ex Hibs’ midfielder Dean Shiels and Jon Daly replacing Harris Vuckic and Boyd.
With Rangers trying to find an equaliser, Hibs added a second on the break when Fyvie dinked the ball into the path of Lewis Stevenson (pictured) who drilled a fine volley into the far corner of the net.
With five minutes remaining Dja Djedje replaced Malonga and Hibs held on for their well deserved win.
Rangers: Robinson, Faure, Zaliukas, McGregor, Wallace, Hutton, Murdoch, Vuckic, Law, Miller, Boyd. Subs: Kelly, Aird, Black, Daly, Clark, Shiels, Halkett
Hibs: Oxley, Gray, Watson, Fontaine, Hanlon, Stevenson, McGeouch, Robertson, Allan, Cummings, Malonga. Subs: Cerny, Forster, Craig, Stanton, Boyle, Fyvie, Dja Djedje.
Referee Steven McLean
Attendance 29,769
Photo by John Preece