The big winners from Sunday’s Easter Road encounter between Hibernian and Rangers were Hearts, as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw, after the Jambos 3-0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday night.
The result also sees Celtic move up into 2nd place in the Premiership following their 2-0 win over Falkirk at Celtic Park, the two Glasgow sides are now locked together on points and on goal difference, however the Hoops have scored more goals putting them above Rangers in the table.
David Gray made 2 changes to the side which were battered 4-1 away at Falkirk last weekend, with Elie Youan coming in for Kieron Bowie, after the Scotland international’s departure to Hellas Verona in midweek. Skipper Joe Newell came into the side with Jamie McGrath out injured. New arrivals Kai Andrews, Owen Elding and Dane Scarlett came onto the bench, with the latter being thrown straight in, after playing in the closing minutes of Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League last Wednesday night.
Danny Röhl made 5 changes to the team which concluded a dismal Europa League campaign with a 3-1 defeat against Porto in the Estádio do Dragão last Thursday evening. New signings Tochi Chukwuani and Andreas Skov Olsen came into the side after not being eligible to play on Thursday night due to European squad rules, with Mohamed Diomande dropping to the bench and Findlay Curtis dropping out after joining Kilmarnock on loan. Skipper James Tavernier was replaced by Dujon Sterling, with John Souttar coming in for Nasser Djiga to captain the side. Thelo Aasgaard also got the nod, with Max Aarons being relegated to substitute.
First Half
It was a cagey start to the match, with the first big chance coming from Rangers on the 4th minute, when a Thelo Aasgaard corner was flicked on at the near post by Nicolas Raskin. The ball appeared to come off of Grant Hanley and go narrowly over the bar for a corner, however Referee Matthew McDermid bizarrely gave a goal kick.
Unfortunately for the home side, a clearance from Emmanuel Fernandez in the 1st minute was blasted off the face of Miguel Chaiwa, however the midfielder didn’t recover from the head knock and had to be taken off after 9 minutes. This gave debutant Kai Andrews a chance to show his qualities after joining on loan from Coventry City for the remainder of the season.
They had a second big opportunity only 2 minutes later, when Youan beat Souttar in the air on the halfway line and drove down the left hand side, Nicolas Raskin did well to force Youan on to his weaker left foot, and his shot was beaten away well by Butland.
The Hibees were creating chance after chance. Martin Boyle outmuscled Tochi Chukwuani deep inside the Rangers half, and drove forward towards the Rangers penalty area. Boyle squared it to Kai Andrews who rolled it on for Elie Youan on the left hand side of the box, curling an effort which was saved brilliantly by the fingertips of Jack Butland.
On 34 minutes, Joe Newell went into Referee Matthew McDermid’s book for a challenge on Nicolas Raskin, which was understandably not received well by the home support, as it appeared a perfectly timed tackle by the Hibs captain which took the ball fair and square.
On 41 minutes, Hibs squandered another big chance to take the lead, Joe Newell played a long ball over the top which evaded Emmanuel Fernandez, resulting in Martin Boyle getting a free run to goal, however Butland, who Rangers had to thank for the score-line staying goalless, timed his run off of his line well to close down Boyle’s effort at goal.
The chances kept on coming for the home side, with Jordan Obita whipping in a great cross on 43 minutes for Elie Youan, who couldn’t get the contact on the header to send the ball towards goal. You couldn’t help but think Kieron Bowie would have found the back of the net with that chance.
It was a dominant display by the home side in the first half, creating multiple chances which they had to be more clinical with. Rangers did not get going at all and were lucky to be level, their lack of creativity was clear to see resulting in not a single clear-cut chance created.
HT: Hibernian 0-0 Rangers.
Second Half
The 2nd half looked like it was going to spark into life when Nico Raskin pushed over Jack Iredale on 50 minutes after what seemed to be a nothing collision. Both players were booked. Although Raskin’s yellow was deserved, Iredale appeared to be very hard done by.
Rangers came out for the second half as flat as they were in the first, which prompted Danny Röhl to make an early change on 55 minutes, with Mikey Moore replacing Djedi Gassama.
The first real opening of the second half unsurprisingly went to Hibs, who broke at pace, Boyle found Youan who cut inside but couldn’t get a finish past a sliding Souttar.
Rangers tried to snatch the lead against the run of play on 64 minutes, when Fernandez stepped forward with a low driven shot from outside the area, however Sallinger tipped it round the post, after a deflection off Grant Hanley.
Both managers turned to their benches with Owen Elding getting his debut for the Hibees on 66 minutes, replacing Martin Boyle. On 69 minutes, David Gray also brought on Nicky Cadden for Grant Hanley and a third debut of the afternoon was given to Spurs loanee Dane Scarlett in place of Youan.
Meanwhile Röhl also shuffled the pack for Rangers as he hooked both new signings in Skov Olsen and Chukwuani, for Mohamed Diomande and Nadim Bajrami, after uninspiring performances from the new men.
Rangers thought they had eventually found a breakthrough on 75 minutes, when Souttar played a great ball in behind the Hibs backline to find Mikey Moore, and after riding off the challenge of Jordan Obita, Moore rifled it past Sallinger with his left boot, only to be denied by the near side assistants flag. VAR checked the goal, and despite the on field decision standing, it proved to be an extremely tight call.
On 84 minutes, Mikey Moore had a shot blocked on the edge of the Hibs penalty area, which allowed the home side to break. Scarlett drove down the left hand side and managed to get into the Rangers box, and despite him being seen off by Diomande the ball broke to Elding in space, but he could only hit it straight at Butland.
Right until the death both teams kept taking turns at going up the park to try and clinch the points, but neither side managed to find a moment of quality worthy of winning the game. Hearts will be delighted at their city rivals doing them a big favour in what won’t be the last swing in this seasons Premiership title race.
FT: Hibernian 0-0 Rangers.
Post Match
Speaking after the game, Hibernian head coach David Gray was pleased with his sides performance following poor results in their last couple of games.
“We deserved all three points. We had the best chances. We could be a bit more clinical. A little bit of frustration we haven’t won the game, but that’s a good place to be off the back of the last two results.
“It was much more like us. It’s very much about making sure we keep working hard, sticking together. It was a young group towards the end, but once we get a few back I’m confident we can end the season strongly.”
R
Rangers head coach Danny Röhl acknowledged it was a tough day for his team, but refuses to believe that their title ambitions are dented following the result.
“Tough game. Both teams tried and invested a lot. In the end we are disappointed we couldn’t win, but honestly I take the draw today.
“We had some good phases in the game where we couldn’t score. In such a game you need this magic moment. We were close with Mikey Moore. In the end we did not deserve the three points.”
Hibernian will want to build on their strong performance when they host Dundee United on Wednesday evening, as they look to strengthen their top 4 ambitions.
Rangers are also in action that night at home to Kilmarnock, where they’ll want to bounce back and take all 3 points as they try to get their title chase back on track against a Kilmarnock team who are off the back of a 3-0 win against Aberdeen under new boss Neil McCann.
Love this piece. ⚽️
Excellent Journalism!