Attendance 16,958
.
A loss that leaves the SPL Champions grimly hanging on to FOURTH place in the title race, ahead of Kilmarnock on goal difference but trailing ELEVEN points adrift of even a UEFA Cup spot for next season.
The Ibrox men have now failed to win a single game of
their last eight, incredibly the club’s worst run of
results since Season 1888-89. Additionally only two
games out of the last fourteen have been won – a run
that is wholly unacceptable to all except apparently
for Chairman David Murray.
Manager Alex McLeish made three changes from Porto
with Alan Hutton, Chris Burke and Ross McCormack
replacing Fernando Ricksen, Brahim Hemdani and Peter
Lovenkrands.
On the last occasion that Rangers visited Leith they
were crowned League Champions, but today would prove
to be light years removed from that glorious day in
May.
A one-minute silence for the late, great George Best
was turned into long and prolonged applause by both
sets of fans.
Hibernian made all the early running against a
visiting side wearing all blue and containing six
Scots in the starting line-up – Garry O’Connor’s
header from a Derek Riordan cross being held by Ronald
Waterreus.
The opening goal was merely delayed however – Ivan
Sproule beating the offside trap from a Guillaume
Beuzelin pass to cross for Riordan, from an offside
position, to net from close range.
Rangers were rocking, and when Alex Rae was
yellow-carded for a foul on Kevin Thomson he was
substituted by Brahim Hemdani within two minutes – the
veteran midfielder having failed to impose himself on
the proceedings.
The former Marseilles Captain had scarcely the
opportunity to settle before the Ibrox men found
themselves 2-0 down when O’Connor volleyed home a
Riordan cross.
Rangers were being run ragged down both flanks – and
four minutes later O’Connor saw his 25-yard shot
following a Riordan free-kick held by Waterreus.
The interval arrived with the scoreline unchanged, and
the Light Blues could consider themselves fortunate
that the deficit was not greater.
Steven Thompson replaced the invisible Franny Jeffers
at half-time, but it was the home side who continued
to threaten – one lightning break eight minutes in saw
Sproule skin Hutton before firing inches wide.
Out of the blue Barry Ferguson reduced the deficit in
58 minutes when his shot was deflected into the net
following a Burke lay-off from an Ian Murray cross.
Burke was immediately replaced by Lovenkrands – a
substitution that baffled most onlookers.
Ferguson and Scott Brown were both yellow-carded four
minutes later following a tangle in midfield, a
decision by Referee Stuart Dougal that would prove
costly.
The scores should have been level in 64 minutes when
Hamed Namouchi somehow shot over an open goal after a
Hemdani free-kick had broken free following Marvin
Andrews’ challenge on Zbigniew Malkowski.
Rangers, having used all three substitutes, were
further handicapped by an injury to Hemdani that
reduced him to a virtual passenger on the wing.
Riordan came close to adding a third in 72 minutes
when his twenty-yard free-kick was inches wide.
The visitors threw caution to the wind in the closing
stages, and were vulnerable to the counterattack – a
long clearance from Malkowski being miss-headed by
Andrews, Sproule seizing on the opportunity only to
see Waterreus block his effort.
Things went from bad to worse for the Light Blues in
the dying seconds when Ferguson received his second
yellow and subsequent red following a foul on Thomson.
It seemed to be an extremely harsh decision – but the
die was cast and Rangers had suffered yet another
defeat.
A beleaguered Alex McLeish afterwards summarised:
“Hibs are the best team we’ve played this season. We
were guilty of a slow start due to a European
hangover. No team could cope with eight absent
players. We are not yet at the point of no return, but
there’s no magic wand.”
The blunt truth however is that Rangers are now as
close to Livingston as they are to Celtic. If that is
acceptable to David Murray then it is time for a new
owner.
HIBERNIAN Malkowski; Whittaker, Smith, Caldwell,
Glass; Scott Brown, Beuzelin, Thomson (Shiels 90),
Sproule; O’Connor (Fletcher 74), Riordan (Morrow 87)
UNUSED SUBS Simon Brown, Hogg, McDonald, Rudge
RANGERS Waterreus; Hutton, Andrews, Kyrgiakos, Murray;
Burke, Ferguson, A. Rae (Hemdani 23), Namouchi;
Jeffers, McCormack
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Hemdani, Malcolm, Fanfan, Thompson,
Lovenkrands, Smith
REFEREE Stuart Dougal