Murray og 41)
Hibernian 2 (Murray 28, McManus 34)
Attendance 49,642
Rangers came from behind for the second successive
game to overcome Hibernian 5-2 at Ibrox this afternoon
on a day when the shortcomings in the home side's
defence were exposed all too easily.
Barry Ferguson, the subject of so much transfer
speculation, was retained as Captain as Rangers made
two changes from the eleven that won at Aberdeen last
Saturday with Paulo Vanoli and Nuno Capucho replacing
the injured Peter Lovenkrands and Ronald De Boer.
There was a capacity crowd (and a healthy travelling
support) on a day of extreme heat, to welcome the only
two teams with 100% records in the SPL.
The game took a long time to warm up, with the 49,642
crowd subdued, perhaps due to off-field events over recent days.
Hibs were certainly not here to defend, and were as
committed to attack as the Light Blues. Indeed the
opening goal, when it arrived in 28 minutes, went to
the visitors when a Tom McManus cross eluded Fernando
Ricksen at the far post, Ian Murray ghosting in on the
blind side to head into the net.
Rangers tried to respond immediately, with a Mikel
Arteta twenty-yard drive on the half-hour mark being
parried by Swedish goalkeeper Daniel Andersson.
The equaliser was only delayed three minutes however
Paulo Vanoli linking to great effect with Shota
Arveladze wide on the left before sending over a
curling cross that Michael Mols stabbed into the net.
The Light Blue legions came to life at last, but
within sixty seconds they were silenced once again
when Yannick Zambernardi¹s cross found McManus
unmarked wide on the right at the edge of the penalty
box, a first-time volley leaving Stefan Klos helpless.
Defensively Rangers were a shambles with Hibs
threatening danger with every attack.
Barry Ferguson had received a mute response from the
spectators, although there was certainly no booing.
The crowd¹s ire instead in the Main Stand at least
was more directed at former Chairman David Murray whom
many rightly regard as the responsible party to the
current financial state of the club.
Somewhat fortuitously Rangers found themselves level
at the interval when a Mikel Arteta corner was headed
into his own net by Ian Murray, giving the player the
distinction of scoring at both ends of the park.
A four-goal first-half had certainly kept the crowd
entertained, and it would be more of the same in the
second.
Hibernian had a golden opportunity to take the lead
for a third time in 50 minutes when Grant Brebner
dispossessed Ferguson in the middle of the park before
finding Murray, who weaved his way through the centre
of the home defence before being upended by Zurab
Khizanishvili for a clear penalty. Tom McManus¹
spot-kick however produced a first-class save from
Klos.
Five minutes later with the OGers defence in
disarray Alen Orman waltzed past three defenders
only to see his low drive held by Klos.
The game was balanced on a knife-edge, and Rangers
might have snatched the lead for the first time in 57
minutes when Andersson held Nuno Capucho¹s header from
Michael Ball¹s free-kick.
Former Ranger Stephen Dobbie replaced Garry O¹Connor
on the hour, just in time to see his old club take the
lead with a classic Mols turn and shot from a Henning
Berg cross.
Manager Alex McLeish introduced both Christian
Nerlinger and Chris Burke for Vanoli and the
ineffective Capucho, and in 66 minutes it was 4-2 when
an Arteta free-kick, some 25 yards out and wide on the
right, somehow found its' way through a packed defence
straight into the net.
Rangers were now well in command Burke was clean
through on a long Ferguson pass in 77 minutes only to
fire wide of the target.
Bob Malcolm replaced Khizanishvili sixty seconds later
as McLeish began to look ahead to Wednesday night in
Copenhagen, but the Champions still had enough left to
add Number Five when an Arveladze cross found Mols who
unselfishly squared to the unmarked Burke who buried
the ball past Andersson for his second goal for the
club.
Manager Alex McLeish afterwards paid credit to
Hibernian for making it an open game.
"It was an exciting performance by both teams, with
the penalty perhaps the turning point."
On the Barry Ferguson situation, Eck commented:
"I made the decision to play him. He is still a
Rangers player. He handled the game really well, and
was as committed as ever. I still hope he changes his
mind, but if he does go he will want to leave on a
high with a win in Copenhagen. I appreciate that the
fans feel that nobody should ever leave Rangers."
Hibs' Manager Bobby Williamson was frustrated:
"That was hard to take. We didn¹t take our chances,
and didn't hold onto our lead for long enough. Rangers
knocked the ball about well in the second-half, but we
were disappointing."
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Khizanishvili (Malcolm 78),
Berg, Ball; Capucho (Burke 66), Ferguson, Arteta,
Vanoli (Nerlinger 63); Arveladze, Mols
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Ross
HIBERNIAN Andersson; Orman, Smith, Kouo-Doumbe,
Zambernardi; McManus (Glass 71), Brebner, Brown,
Murray; Riordan (Whittaker 89), O'Connor (Dobbie 60)
UNUSED SUBS Hyldgaard, Wiss
REFEREE Dougie McDonald