Rangers ran out deserved winners against Hibs following an ill-tempered 90-minutes at Easter Road tonight.
Head Coach Jack Ross retained the same starting XI that lost to Celtic last weekend with Adam Bogdan replacing Chris Maxwell on the bench.
Brandon Barker who spent a season on loan at Easter Road was listed amongst the Rangers’ substitutes.
The game kicked off in a tremendous atmosphere with both sets of fans making themselves heard but it was Rangers who opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Joe Aribo blocked Ofir Marciano’s clearance and the ball fell to Ryan Kent who slotted it into the empty net.
Hibs fought back and Florian Kamberi was unlucky to see his angled shot strike the post before Scott Allan went close with a powerful long-range strike.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the eighth minute through Aribo who curled the ball into the top corner of the net from the edge of the area after good work by Ryan Jack on the right wing.
Hibs continued to press and Allan was brought down 25-yards from goal but Stevie Mallan’s free-kick flew over the bar.
Marciano then made amends for his earlier error with a superb save to deny Aribo before Martin Boyle almost pulled one back with a curling effort from Christian Doidge’s knock-down. The Hibs’ players appealed for a corner but none was given.
Rangers continued to dominate and Marciano did well to save James Tavenier’s close range header.
Lewis Stevenson and Jason Naismith were both booked before the half-time whistle blew.
Ross made a double substitution at the break with Mallan and Kamberi making way for Daryl Horgan and Vykintas Slivka.
Horgan almost made an immediate impact when his cross evaded everyone and flew inches wide of the post.
Moments later Boyle and Hallberg were both shown yellow cards as the tempers flared.
Aribo looked likely to score his second after breaking clear but Stevenson put him off with a fantastic last ditch tackle.
Defoe wrapped things up in the 52nd minute from close range after Scott Arfield’s header landed at his feet inside the area.
Eight minutes later Ryan Porteous was shown a red card for a late challenge on Borna Barisic who required treatment but carried on and was the subject of booing from the home fans every time he touched the ball.
The sending off sparked a furious argument between the benches and John Porter was shown a red card along with a member of Rangers staff.
Porteous will now miss the Edinburgh derby on Boxing Day.
Darren McGregor replaced Allan and the 10-men did well to keep the score at 3-0.
Hibs remain in sixth place two points in front of Ross County who have played two games less.
After the game Ross told BBC Scotland: “We were a long way short of where we needed to be. The start of the game makes it very difficult for us, particularly against one of the top two sides in the league.
“It made it a long and difficult evening, but we need to be better in the basic part of the game to produce a better result.”
An investigation is underway after a number of objects including a glass bottle were thrown onto the pitch from the Hibs’ end.
Hibs: Marciano, Hanlon, Doidge, Boyle, Mallan, Stevenson, Hallberg, Naismith, Kamberi, Allan, Porteous. Subs: Bogdan, Horgan, Slivka, Jackson, McGregor, Shaw, Murray.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Jack, Defoe, Kent, Aribo, Kamara, Katic, Barisic, Arfield. Subs: Foderingham, Edmundson, Ojo, Halliday, Barker, Stewart, Polster
Referee Nick Walsh
Attendance: 19,530
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
