Scottish Cup following today's 1-0 win over Hibernian
at Ibrox this afternoon - but it was a victory marred
by the controversial ordering-off of Nacho Novo, a
dismissal that means he will miss next week's League
Cup Final.
The red-carding was the one real flashpoint of an
otherwise uneventful match played in a biting wind and
at times tottential rain. Indeed the respective
managers almost came to blows in the immediate
aftermatch of the incident, as 'Gers Boss Walter Smith
confronted his Easter Road counterpart Mixu
Paatelainen.
Rangers made no fewer than six changes from Thursday
with Neil Alexander, Steven Whittaker, Chris Burke,
Kevin Thomson, Steven Naismith and Lee McCulloch
replacing the suspended Allan McGregor, David Weir,
Sasa Papac, Brahim Hemdani, Charlie Adam and the
injured Daniel Cousin..
It was all Rangers in the early stages - Whittaker's
twenty-yard drive from a Barry Ferguson pass being
touched wide by Hibs Goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay in
twelve minutes.
Sixty seconds later McCulloch headed inches wide from
a Whittaker cross.
Hibs were far from out of it however - Alexander,
making his first start for the club, turning wide
Steven Fletcher's 25-yard drive in 21 minutes
The visiting support were here in larger numbers than
is the norm, filling perhaps half the Broomloan Road
Stand as they searched for the Holy Grail of seeing
Hibernian win the Scottish Cup for the first time
since 1902.
The opening goal when it arrived however fell to
Rangers in 39 minutes - Burke cutting in from the
right on a Steve Davis pass before seeing his
left-foot shot from the edge of the box explode into
the far corner of the net.
The home side went all out for the kill - three
minutes later a Thomson corner fell to McCulloch whose
header was diverted upwards and onto the underside of
the crossbar by Ma-Kalmbay, the rebound falling to
Naismith whose header was held by the Belgian
goalkeeper.
The former Kilmarnock forward should have made his
next effort count - in a lightning 44th minute break
Burke's crossfield pass found Naismith whose shot was
blocked by Ma-Kalambay.
Finally, in the dying embers of a half that had been
less than memorable, Thomson's 25-yard effort from a
Ferguson pass flashed wide of the target.
The second-half, initially at least, was little better
- indeed it was all of twenty minutes after the
restart that Fletcher's header from a Brian Kerr
free-kick drifted just wide.
Novo replaced Naismith in 67 minutes, and four minutes
later Referee Craig Thomson was obliged to speak to
Mixu Paatelainen over comments directed at the
official..
Rangers had a strong penalty claim denied in 74
minutes when Novo's cutback was handled by Chris Hogg,
but the referee turned a blind eye.
Three minutes later in another quick break Ferguson
found Davis who was thwarted by Ma-Kalambay.
The game exploded in 79 minutes when Novo clashed with
Thierry Gathuessi on the touchline. Both players were
high and reckless in their tackle - but astonishingly
Craig Thomson produced just the one straight red card
for the Ranger, surely influenced by the sight of the
Hibs bench rushing to the touchline demanding that the
referee take action.
Walter Smith was so angered by this that he confronted
Mixu Paatelainen over the incident, with angry words
exchanged, prompting the referee, on the say-so of the
fourth official, to despatch Walter to the stand.
Hibernian were however unable to take advantage of
their numerical advantage - indeed it was Rangers who
came closest to extending their lead four minutes
later when Thomson's curling twenty-yarder from a
Ferguson pass was touched wide by Ma-Kalambay.
Rangers were through - and afterwards a rather calmer
Walter Smith stated:
"I felt the action of the Hibs bench was poor. I had
no arguing with the ordering-off, it was a forward's
challenge, but their bench was asking for cards
throughout. We handled the last ten minutes well."
RANGERS Alexander; Broadfoot, Dailly, Cuellar,
Whittaker; Burke, Ferguson, Thomson, Davis, Naismith;
McCulloch (Novo 67)
UNUSED SUBS Reidford, Boyd, Novo, Adam, Furman
HIBERNIAN Ma-Kalambay; Zarabi, Hogg, Jones, Gatheussi;
Shiels (Morais 71), Kerr (Benjelloun 79), Murray,
Rankin, O'Brien; Fletcher
UNUSED SUBS McNeil, Zemmama, Benjelloun, Morais,
Chisholm
REFEREE Craig Thomson
Attendance 33,837