Football – Hibernian 2 Rangers 1

Hibs moved to within five points of league leaders Rangers with a fantastic 2-1 victory over Mark Warburton’s side at Easter Road this afternoon.

Head Coach Alan Stubbs made one change to the Hibs’ starting XI that beat Raith Rovers last Saturday with Fraser Fyvie returning to the starting eleven at the expense of Liam Fontaine meaning that Hibs lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.

Rangers started brightly and had an early appeal for a penalty kick when Jason Holt went down inside the Hibs area following a challenge from Lewis Stevenson, however referee John Beaton waved away their appeals.

Hibs fought back and  Dylan McGeouch set up  John McGinn, however he was unable to get the ball from under his feet and the chance was cleared.

With play raging from end to end former Hearts’ full back Lee Wallace fired just wide before Hibs opened the scoring in sensational fashion.

Jason Cummings accepted a throw in from David Gray, saw off the challenge from ex Hearts’ captain Danny Wilson before firing a superb left-foot drive into the bottom right hand corner of the net from 25 yards.

In the 17th minute, the impressive  McGeouch suffered an injury and was forced to limp off and Marvin Bartley took his place in midfield.

Rangers then started to dominate possession and it took a world class save from Mark Oxley to prevent James Tavernier from equalising after some good wing play from Nicky Clark

Dominique Malonga then Cummings both went close before the end of the first half.

Half time Hibernian 1-0 Rangers

Rangers started the second half strongly and equalised within a minute of the restart when  Wallace’s  shot from outside of the area that took a big deflection off McGregor’s ankle which wrong footed Oxley and the ball flew into the net to the delight of the travelling support behind the goals.

Hibs almost regained the lead moments later when Liam Henderson’s cross was knocked just over the bar by Wilson.

From the corner kick the ball ended up at the feet of McGinn who showed incredible close control before finding Bartley who side footed the ball inches past  the post.

Both teams pressed and the Hibs’ fans in the East Stand thought their heroes had taken the lead following a powerful effort from McGinn but the ball struck the side netting with Wes Foderingham helpless.

At the other end Rangers almost grabbed the lead when Tavernier found Martyn Waghorn inside the area but Oxley produced a fantastic save however the ball fell to Wallace but the full back’s powerful strike was headed onto the bar by McGregor.

McGinn then set up Cummings and the youngster displayed some great skill to evade Rob Kiernan and race in on goal, but Foderingham produced a world class save. The ball fell to Malonga who tried to find Cummings but his pass was intercepted.

Substitute Nathan Oduwa then went close when he curled Waghorn’s pass onto the base of the post.

With 17 minutes remaining McGinn was fouled 25 yards from goal. The Scotland Under 21 skipper took the free kick which Foderingham tipped over the bar. McGinn took the resultant corner which Paul Hanlon headed into the net sparking wild scenes from the home supporters.

Fraser Fyvie was shown a yellow card for a tough challenge which sparked a mass brawl in the centre of the field. Waghorn was first to react and pushed Fyvie in the chest with both hands but despite the fact that he had already been booked, referee John Beaton incredibly took no action to the amazement of everyone in the stadium.

With time running  out, Tavernier’s cross found Waghorn but his strike at goal from eight yards flew over the bar.

The 4th officials added 4 minutes of added time and Hibs heid on for the valuable victory.

Hibernian: Oxley, Gray, Henderson (Keatings 66’), Hanlon, Malonga (Feruz 85’), Fyvie, McGeouch (Bartley 19’), Stevenson, McGinn, McGregor, Cummings. Unused substitutes: Reguero, Fontaine, Carmichael, Forster.

Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Kiernan, Wallace, Ball, Clark (Zelalem 58’), Halliday, McKay, Holt (Shiels 80’), Wilson (Oduwa 58’), Waghorn. Unused substitutes: Kelly, Aird, Thompson, Walsh.

Referee: John Beaton.

Attendance: 14,412