Premier League

December 27, 2009
  • FTFT
     
    Hibernian
    Rangers
    1
    4
    1
    4
    1

Full-time

Hibernian

1 - 4

Rangers

Premier League

12:00 GMT, December 27, 2009

Easter Road Stadium, Scotland

Referee: I Brines

Rangers rally to end Hibs run

Kris Boyd
GettyImages
Kris Boyd adds a second goal for Rangers against Hibernian

Scoring Summary

Hibernian Rangers
Anthony Stokes (1')Kenny Miller (21')
 Kris Boyd (37')
 Nacho Novo (53')
 Kenny Miller (66')

Match Stats

Hibernian

Rangers

7(4) Shots (on Goal) 5(1)
7 Fouls 14
3 Corner Kicks 8
1 Offsides 6
58% Time of Possession 42%
1 Yellow Cards 0
0 Red Cards 0
1 Saves 3

Teams

Hibernian Rangers
50 Yves Ma-Kalambay1 Allan McGregor
4 Chris Hogg3 David Weir
26 Souleymane Bamba21 Kirk Broadfoot
20 Paul Hanlon5 Sasa Papac
33 Liam Miller24 Madjid Bougherra
11 John Rankin6 Lee McCulloch
7 Merouane Zemmama7 Steven Davis
24 David Wotherspoon9 Kris Boyd
9 Colin John Nish18 Kenny Miller
10 Derek Riordan10 Nacho Novo
18 Anthony Stokes27 Kyle Lafferty
Substitutes
30 Thomas FlynnNeil Alexander 25
15 Steven ThicotSteven Whittaker 16
25 Darren McCormackSteven Smith 26
8 Patrick CreggDanny Wilson 66
16 Lewis StevensonMaurice Edu 2
22 Danny GalbraithJohn Fleck 29
19 Abdessalam BenjellounAndrew Little 48
Substitutions
Danny Galbraith for Merouane Zemmama (68)
Maurice Edu for Kyle Lafferty (74)
Darren McCormack for Derek Riordan (68)
Steven Whittaker for Kenny Miller (80)
Abdessalam Benjelloun for Colin John Nish (76)
 
Yellow Cards
Souleymane Bamba (83)
 
· Squads: Hibernian | Rangers

Rangers showed their title credentials by staging a remarkable comeback to beat Hibernian 4-1 in the SPL and restore their four-point advantage over Celtic.

• Bougherra to miss Old Firm tie
• Saturday's round-up
• SPL Team of the Week
 • SPL gallery

Anthony Stokes left the Scottish champions reeling when he claimed the SPL's fastest ever goal after 12.4 seconds - beating the record previously held by Saulius Mikoliunas for Hearts back in 2006 - but it was not enough for Hibs to maintain their impressive assault on the Old Firm's dominance this season.

Rangers hit back through a double from Kenny Miller and goals from Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo to end the Edinburgh club's unbeaten run of 13 league games and bring their own tally of goals to 19 for the month of December.

Hibs were handed a boost ahead of the match when Sol Bamba was given the green light to play after initially being denied permission to delay joining up with the Ivory Coast squad ahead of the African Nations Cup. Rangers were without DaMarcus Beasley after he apparently suffered a thigh strain in training, but Maurice Edu was named on the bench for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury in the final SPL game of last season.

Some fans had yet to take their seats in the stand when Hibs surged into the lead with just 12 seconds on the clock. Merouane Zemmama threaded a pass through to Stokes who drilled an angled drive past Allan McGregor and into the back of the net.

Rangers attempted to force their way back into the game and Kyle Lafferty delivered a decent cross for Miller only for the striker to nod narrowly wide of target. Miller made amends for that miss with 21 minutes gone when he raced onto a Boyd pass before rifling past Yves Ma-Kalambay in the Hibs goal from 20 yards to level the scoreline.

Miller then went to ground in the area claiming he had been bundled over by Chris Hogg but referee Iain Brines was unimpressed by the claims and no penalty was forthcoming. Hogg then appeared to handle in the box but, again, the match official was unmoved.

But Rangers were celebrating again when they took the lead after 37 minutes. Derek Riordan was dispossessed on the right flank by Madjid Bougherra, who whipped a cross to the feet of Boyd for the striker to lash high into the net from eight yards.

Ma-Kalambay appeared to be struggling with a hamstring injury during the first half but reappeared after the interval, with boss John Hughes seemingly reluctant to throw rookie Thomas Flynn into the action.

At the other end, Stokes stung the palms of McGregor with a snap-shot five minutes after the restart and the Rangers goalkeeper did well to snuff out the danger.

Instead, it was Ma-Kalambay who was soon picking the ball out of the net again. The Hibs goalkeeper came off his line to block but was caught cold by Nacho Novo's cross-cum-shot from the left with 53 minutes gone.

There appeared to be no way back for Hibs when Rangers claimed their fourth of the day after 67 minutes. Boyd was the provider for Miller, who shrugged off Bamba to send a low shot trickling over the line, with Ma-Kalambay helpless.

The vocal travelling support had more to cheer when Edu was introduced for the final 15 minutes, making his first appearance of the campaign.

Easter Road rapidly began to empty, with Hibs sensing there was no hope of staging their own comeback. Substitute Abdessalam Benjelloun could have reduced the deficit with a well-struck shot from distance but McGregor was up to the task and blocked well as Rangers continued their winning run this month.

  • Bougherra to miss Old Firm tie

    Rangers manager Walter Smith does not expect to have Madjid Bougherra available for next week's crucial Old Firm derby despite reports to the contrary.

    Reports originating from Algeria suggested Bougherra had been given permission to face Celtic in the January 3 clash before joining up with the rest of the national squad ahead of the African Nations Cup.

    But, as far as Smith is concerned, the influential centre-half will only be available for Wednesday's game against Dundee United at Ibrox before joining up with his countrymen. Smith said: "That's the way it's looking at the present moment."

    The Rangers boss also looks set to be without DaMarcus Beasley for the next few weeks after he suffered an injury in training that kept him out of the clash with Hibs. The United States international has enjoyed a fine return to form in the last few matches and Smith admits his absence is a blow.

    "He has a tear in his thigh,'' said the Rangers boss. "I'm not sure how long that will keep him out - two or three weeks maybe. It's disappointing in the sense that he is just back in the team and doing exceptionally well so it was disappointing it happened.''

    Better news for Smith is the form of his two strikers, Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller, with both on the score sheet again against Hibs as Rangers took their goals tally to an impressive 19 in five December games.

    "They are playing very well just now,'' said Smith. "They are doing well in all aspects of their game for the team and they are still managing to get goals, which is a good thing for us. I think the main thing for us all is the fact the team have worked harder over the last six or eight weeks or so and we are getting a decent benefit from that now.''

    Watching from the stand was new Scotland boss Craig Levein, who has revealed he would welcome Boyd back into the national team after the striker previously refused to play under George Burley.

    But Smith refused to be drawn on whether he thinks Boyd and Miller will be given the opportunity to extend their partnership with the national team.

    "That's up to Craig,'' he said. "He will be going around and looking at everybody.''

    Hibs enjoyed a dream start when Anthony Stokes netted the fastest ever SPL goal. But a double from Miller and goals from Boyd and Nacho Novo allowed Rangers to claim another emphatic win, with Hibs boss John Hughes now conceding his side have no hope of challenging for the title this season or even splitting the Old Firm.

    "Over the course of the game Rangers ran out convincing winners,'' said Hughes. "Did they have to do much to beat us? I think we beat ourselves at times. But I'm not going to be too hard on my boys. We just have to roll the sleeves up and bounce back.

    "We got some answers today and possibly the biggest is that we can't match the Old Firm, which is disappointing.''