Hibernian this afternoon, a result that takes the
Easter Road men to the top of the SPL.
This reversal means that, for all their outstanding
Champions League results, the Light Blues have now won
just one SPL game out of their last four.
There can be no doubt that the Ibrox men suffered a
Euro hangover, but without question the underlying
reason for today's loss was the team selection and
tactics employed by Manager Walter Smith who made
three changes from Lyon with incredibly all three
goalscorers on that memorable night in France missing
- DaMarcus Beasley, Lee McCulloch and Daniel Cousin
being replaced by Steven Whittaker, Charlie Adam and
Kris Boyd as the home side, unbelievably, lined up
4-5-1. AT HOME TO HIBERNIAN.?
The Leith side arrived in Glasgow as the only unbeaten
team in the SPL, and that statistic was reflected in
the size of the travelling support.
Rangers attacked from the first peep of Referee Kenny
Clark's whistle - Barry Ferguson's overhead kick from
a Boyd headflick landing on the roof of the net inside
the opening thirty seconds.
Ferguson again came close in sixteen minutes when his
twenty-yard shot from a Brahim Hemdani knockdown was
held by visiting goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay.
The early surge of pressure soon evaporated however -
and the rest of the first-half descended into a drab,
dull affair with little creative play or goalmouth
incidents of note.
On the cusp of the interval Rangers came agonisingly
close to breaking the deadlock when Whittaker's cross
was clawed away by Ma-Kalambay, the ball falling to
Adam whose chip drifted inches wide.
The home side restarted on the offensive - and Boyd
saw his 22-yard free-kick held by Ma-Kalambay at the
second attempt.
It was all Rangers at this juncture - Alan Hutton
worked his way down the right wing in 58 minutes
before sending over a cross that Ma-Kalambay touched
away only as far as Adam, yet the Hibs goalkeeper
somehow was able to tip over Charlie's effort.
Unbelievably the opening goal when it arrived came at
the other end in 61 minutes - David Murphy's header
from substitute Filipe Morais' corner finding the net.
Not before time, McCulloch and Steven Naismith were
introduced to the fray six minutes later, replacing
Kevin Thomson and Whittaker.
Rangers had a strong penalty appeal turned down by
Referee Kenny Clark in 75 minutes when Naismith's shot
from a Boyd header struck the hand of Rob Jones.
Sixty seconds later Daniel Cousin finally replaced the
ineffective Boyd, and immediately thereafter David
Weir missed an absolute sitter when Adam's free-kick
was headed across goal by Carlos Cuellar, the central
defender somehow scooping the ball over from right
under the crossbar.
Rangers were right out of luck, illustrated in the
89th minute when Weir's backheader from a Hutton cross
was headed off the line by Murphy.
A crescendo of booing greeted the final whistle, and
afterwards a downcast Walter Smith reflected:
"It's disappointing to lose. Hibs started the game
well. It was a tight game of few opportunities, and it
was poor to lose the goal from a set-piece. We had to
chase the game after the loss of the goal, but we
didn't create enough opportunities."
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Weir, Cuellar, Papac;
Whittaker (Naismith 67), Ferguson, Hemdani, Thomson
(McCulloch 67), Adam; Boyd (Cousin 76)
UNUSED SUBS Carroll, Faye, Lennon, Emslie
HIBERNIAN Ma-Kalambay; McCann, Hogg, Jones, Murphy;
Kerr, Beuzelin, Chisholm, Fletcher (O'Brien 82);
Donaldson (Morais 45), Antoine-Curier (Zemmama 74)
UNUSED SUBS McNeil, Gathuessi, McCormack, Shiels
REFEREE Kenny Clark
Attendance 50,440