RANGERS.......1 HIBERNIAN.....0
Aribo hails fighting spirit of Rangers as league leaders dig deep to maintain their title march
STORM Bella couldn’t blow Rangers off course. And, after 12 straight wins in the Premiership, it’s hard to see who will. Celtic travel across Glasgow next weekend. To maintain the illusion of a title race, Neil Lennon’s team must become the first visiting side to win at Ibrox in 14 attempts this season.
Say it like that and it doesn’t sound so bad. Yet Benfica and Motherwell are the only teams to score a goal in Govan over the campaign.
And while Hibernian pointed to one — possibly two — penalty appeals in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat, the final outcome mirrored so many others this season. Under duress, a Rangers side protecting their best start to a league season since 1928-29 found a way.
They did it in hideous conditions. As wind blew rain over Ibrox like horizontal sheets, the precautions taken to protect players and officials from Covid-19 offered no safeguard against pneumonia or hypothermia.
Warmth and comfort came for Steven Gerrard from the maintenance of a 16-point lead at the top of the table.
Negotiate a midweek trip to Paisley — where they have lost their only game of the season in the Betfred Cup — then Celtic at the weekend and the league trophy will almost be close enough to touch.
‘We are showing fight and that, when we are under the cosh, we can stand up and put our bodies on the line as a team,’ said man- of-the-match Joe Aribo. ‘You are definitely seeing that.
‘We just know that as a team we need to keep pushing and fighting together — fight as a team — and that’s how we will get the best out of each other.’
Rangers are constantly judged by the ghosts of the past. In recent seasons, largely the same group of players have reached the new year in a title-winning position after overcoming Celtic and blown it. Yet this season things feel different. Mentally and physically, they look a stronger unit.
No championship comes easily. The lingering knee issues afflicting Ryan Jack show no sign of being resolved. The late loss of Scott Arfield after a six-minute substitute cameo on Saturday is badly timed.
Neither looks likely to feature against St Mirren or Celtic now, yet the performances of the elegant Aribo and match-winning goalscorer Ianis Hagi suggest it was never a given anyway.
Aribo, i n particular, is a l ovely footballer. With quick feet and a terrific range of passes in his locker, the Nigerian international is the kind of player who creates a ripple of anticipation every time he gets the ball. The same might be said to a lesser extent of Hagi, the Romanian adding to his strike against St Johnstone in midweek with the only goal of the game against Hibs.
Aribo and Glen Kamara combined well to create space for Kemar Roofe to hammer a low left-footed ball across the face of goal after 33 minutes, Hagi timing his run perfectly to get ahead of Paul Hanlon and slot home.
To win a title requires an element of good fortune at times and Rangers used up some of theirs on Saturday.
It began when Hibs followed the pattern of so many opponents this season by losing key men in the buildup to the game.
Suspension, rather than coronavirus, cost them the services of striker Christian Doidge and, as Josh Doig threw a succession of dangerous crosses into the area, they missed him.
The form of on-loan QPR keeper
Dillon Barnes in his first league start meant the Edinburgh side missed injured No1 Ofir Marciano a little less.
The Englishman took confidence from a fine block from a point-blank Connor Goldson header before the Rangers goal and, as the Ibrox side enjoyed first-half possession of 74 per cent, he kept his team in the game.
Jack Ross’ men had to be better after the interval and, to their credit, they were. They were denied a penalty in 61 minutes when a dangerously high boot from goalscorer Hagi on the best visiting player, Joe Newell, in the 18-yard box went unpunished.
Anywhere else on the pitch, it was a free-kick. And while another Hibs claim for a foul on Ryan Porteous by James Tavernier was debatable, the Newell incident appeared a clear case of a player endangering an opponent. Be it from a sense of injustice — or simply the wind — Hibs drove towards the Rangers goal in the finishing stages.
Kevin Nisbet miscued a half chance at the back post. Melker Hallberg’s curling, skidding low shot, meanwhile, was pushed away low at the left-hand post by Allan McGregor five minutes from time. When the ball was cut back to Nisbet, Borna Barisic blocked.
That Rangers now win points they would have dropped last season has been said so often it feels like a cliche.
A 2- 2 draw at Easter Road on
September Gerrard’s testimony resilience. side Dominant in so many games to 20 their consistency and lost any ground at all, a was the l ast time this when season, they have Rangers can stand up to and will point to late chances for Leon Balogun and substitute Alfredo Morelos which might have made it a more comfortable victory.
‘We knew it was going to be a difficult game,’ conceded Aribo. ‘We knew we would come under pressure but we need to go out there and stand up together.’
His own season blighted by a 12-week ankle injury, then illness, the midfielder adds craft and creativity to his team.
While f ocus has f al l en on t he importance of what Tavernier and Barisic add to Rangers in attack, Aribo has quietly established himself as a key player for the Ibrox boss.
‘He has had a real tough season and I don’t think people appreciate what he has been through,’ said Gerrard of the former Charlton player.
‘He had his first serious injury and was out for 12 weeks, which is a long time.
‘And then on the back of getting himself ready, he gets an illness which knocked him back for a few weeks. But, you saw the signs against St Johnstone. He is really starting to show what he is all about.’
‘I’m not sure who was man of the match against Hibernian, but if they gave it to Joe, then I would certainly agree with them.’ RANGERS (4-3-3): McGregor 6; Tavernier 6, Goldson 7, Balogun 7, Barisic 6; Davis 6, Kamara 7, Aribo 8; Hagi 7 (Arfield 75, Zungu 82), Kent 5, Roofe 6 (Morelos 82).
Subs not used: McLaughlin, Bassey, Helander, Defoe, Itten, Barker.
Booked: None. HIBERNIAN (3-5-2): Barnes 7; P McGinn 6, Porteous 7, Hanlon 7; Wright 5 (Gullan 82), Hallberg 7, Gogic 7, Newell 8, Doig 7; Boyle 5, Nisbet 5. Subs not used: Samson, Gray, Stevenson, McGinn, Elder, McGregor. Booked: Gogic. Man of the match: Joe Aribo. Referee: Willie Collum.