resilience to defeat Hibernian 1-0 in Edinburgh this
afternoon despite playing more than an hour with ten
men.
The most controversial incident of a controversial
ninety minutes occurred in 27 minutes when Nacho Novo
was red-carded following an incident with Craig
Rocastle - but a second-half Dado Prso penalty secured
the points for the Light Blues.
Manager Alex McLeish made three changes from Wednesday
night with Michael Ball making his first appearance in
a blue jersey for all of six months, replacing the
injured Gregory Vignal - while Bob Malcolm returned
after suspension to replace Alex Rae, a substitute
following his heroic exertions against Celtic, and of
course Dado Prso was fielded from the start in place
of the injured Steven Thompson.
Making a less than welcome appearance was incompetent
and overweight Referee Willie Young.
A one-minute silence for Remembrance Sunday was
immaculately observed prior to kick-off.
The pace was ferocious from the opening seconds - but
it took fully fifteen minutes before there was a
clear-cut chance when Novo took possession of a Zurab
Khizanishvili pass before embarking on a solo run that
carried him into the heart of the Hibs' defence only
to shoot across the face of goal with Prso unmarked in
the middle of goal.
Four minutes later the visitors had an amazing escape
when Garry O'Connor slipped Jean-Alain Boumsong from a
Derek Riordan cross before chipping the ball over the
advancing Stefan Klos - only for the ball to come back
off an upright with the Hibs' centre hailing a goal.
Riordan was creating problems for the Ibrox defence on
the left - and when his 24th minute corner was headed
back to him his inswinging cross was met with the
faintest of head-flicks from Guillaume Beuzelin only
for Klos at full stretch to turn the ball behind.
The major talking point of the game occurred three
minutes later when Nacho Novo was red-carded following
an incident with Craig Rocastle on the say-so of
Assistant Referee Steven Craven. The clash appeared
wholly innocuous - but Referee Willie Young, 75 yards
behind play, had no option but to follow his
linesman's advice.
Rangers were now right up against it - yet might have
taken the lead on the half-hour mark when home
goalkeeper Simon Brown held a Peter Lovenkrands header
from a Prso cross.
Six minutes later at the other end Klos had to be
alert to keep out a Dean Shiels header from a Steven
Whittaker cross.
Alex Rae replaced Lovenkrands at the interval as
McLeish sought to strength his midfield.
Rocastle came within inches of breaking the deadlock
in 56 minutes with a twenty-yard left-foot drive
following Boumsong's headed clearance, but the game
had yet another twist in the tail six minutes later
when Hamed Namouchi, clear through on a slide-rule
Ricksen pass, was upended by Gary Caldwell.
It was a clear penalty - and a red card for the Hibs'
defender. Prso converted the spot-kick, and suddenly
it was ten against ten.
Ricksen had been outstanding yet again in midfield,
but an error in 66 minutes almost levelled the scores
- substitute Samuel Morrow seeing his effort held by
Klos.
Hibernian were fortunate to remain with ten men on the
field six minutes later when Prso, bursting clear from
halfway on a Namouchi pass, was hauled back by Gary
Smith. Willie Young however contented himself with a
yellow card.
With time running out Namouchi almost sealed the
points in 88 minutes when he saw his shot from an Alex
Rae pass parried by Simon Brown, but sixty seconds
later Rangers were awarded a second penalty when
Ricksen, clean through on a Namouchi pass, was upended
by Ian Murray.
Strangely Willie Young, although awarding a spot-kick,
failed to red-card Murray, and when Prso struck the
outside of the post with his second penalty it left
the game very much in the balance.
In a last-gasp attempt to snatch an equaliser, the
very same Murray saw his header from a Jamie McCluskey
cross strike the base of the post.
The final whistle seconds later gave Rangers a vital
win, and afterwards Alex McLeish reflected:
"I'm pleased to win at such a tough venue. We've risen
to a lot of challenges over the last couple of months.
We showed great resilience - there's a growing spirit
between the fans and team."
Significantly both Hibs' manager Tony Mowbray and
Craig Rocastle thought the ordering-off of Nacho Novo
was harsh, with the Hibs' player offering to back any
appeal.
HIBERNIAN S. Brown; Whittaker, Caldwell, Murdock
(McCluskey 69), Glass; Beuzelin, Murray, Rocastle
(Smith 63), Shiels; O'Connor (Morrow 63), Riordan
UNUSED SUBS A. Brown, Fletcher, Murphy, Orman
RANGERS Klos; Khizanishvili (Hutton 81), Boumsong,
Andrews, Ball; Namouchi, Ricksen, Malcolm, Lovenkrands
(A. Rae 45); Novo, Prso
UNUSED SUBS G. Smith, Arveladze, Vanoli, Hughes,
Mackenzie
REFEREE Willie Young
Attendance 13,829