Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IT’S DEAD & BERI’D
Hibs’ Swiss striker kills off Gers’ title charge
FLORIAN KAMBERI snatched an unlikely point as Hibernian held Rangers to a 1-1 Premiership draw but only after Scottish football suffered another night of controversy at Easter Road.
Steven Gerrard’s team should have been out of sight by half-time but only had Daniel Candeias’ strike to show for their dominance in the first 45 minutes.
Kamberi pounced with quarter-of-an-hour left to steal a point for Paul Heckingbottom’s side – who ended the match with 10 men after Darren Mcgregor was dismissed in stoppage-time.
But the result was overshadowed by yet another example of fan misconduct in Leith. Rangers should have struck 12 minutes in as Ryan Kent danced past David Gray. His pull back was perfect for Scott Arfield but Mark Milligan threw himself in front to deny a certain goal.
Confusion amongst the officials should have given Hibs their chance to pounce two minutes before the break as linesman Graham Chambers put his flag up for offside against Daryl Horgan before putting it down again. The visitors’ defence stopped but Hibs could not take advantage.
Instead it was Rangers who broke with lightning speed to grab the opener.
Glen Kamara charged forward before spraying out to Candeias. Paul Hanlon stopped the Portuguese winger’s first cross but it broke back to the former Benfica man, who took a touch before whipping an unstoppable effort into the top corner.
That was not the end of the drama though. As Mclean blew for the interval, a Hibs fan leapt from the East Stand to confront Tavernier, booting the ball out of the Ibrox skipper’s hands.
The pair squared up but the pitch invader was quickly dragged away by police before it turned really ugly.
Gers looked to double their tally as the second period got underway but it was the hosts who almost hit back as Marc Mcnulty played in Horgan, only for Alan Mcgregor to block.
Rangers’ failure to make more of their dominance came back to haunt them as Kamberi levelled with 14 minutes left. Kamara switched off as the Swiss hitman ghosted clear to slam home at the back post.