DIFFERENCE IS LIGHT & DAY
Tom and Co prove champs are back on form
They still left the back door open for a Hibs side who came to play though and had to work harder than they might have done to stay on Hearts’ coat-tails at the top.
A brilliant display from Tom Rogic before the break saw the Aussie score one and set up the other for Olivier Ntcham as they cruelly exposed Neil Lennon’s desire to go toe to toe with them.
Hibs found their shape and their desire after the break and goals got them within touching distance twice through class finishes from Flo Kamberi and Martin Boyle – only to be put back in their box each time by an Odsonne Edouard double.
The Frenchman – who hit the post three times himself as well as taking his tally to four in the past three games – said: “It was very important to win today. We wanted to demonstrate to everyone that we are still a team who
RB LEIPZIG have been dealt a huge blow ahead of their Europa League showdown with Celtic on Thursday after star Swedish winger Emil Forsberg was ruled out of the game with a groin strain. The Scottish champions face a daunting trip to the high-flying Bundesliga outfit in the third round of matches.
But the Germans will have to do without the 26-year-old Swedish international (right) who is expected to be out for three weeks. Hamilton v Rangers 1.30pm
OVIE EJARIA reckons what didn’t kill him made him stronger on his last loan deal at doomed Sunderland.
Now he’s loving life on the European stage with Rangers.
The Liverpool midfielder endured six months of misery as darkness descended on the Stadium of Light in their descent to League One, experiencing only a single final day is aiming for that top spot, that we are still No.1.
“After my injury there were some complications but everything is now going well. I feel really fit. I could have scored four goals but Hibs were a really good team and gave us a really good game.”
Callum Mcgregor and Scott Sinclair’s efforts off the bar and post respectively could have given the scoreline a more accurate look but win after they’d already been relegated.
This season the 20-year-old’s world has turned on its head with nine lossless games in the Europa League to his name and, he hopes, another to come against Sparktak Moscow at home on Thursday.
Ahead of today’s trip to Hamilton Ejaria said: “When I look back at my Sunderland spell I think it was a good experience for me.
“It is nice to be in a different boss Brendan Rodgers will be more concerned by an injury to captain Scott Brown who may now miss Thursday’s Europa League tie with RB Leipzig.
Brown – just back from a spell on the sidelines – limped off just 21 minutes into the action and Rodgers said: “It looked a sore one so I just have to wait and see.
“You know what he’s like, he’s a warrior and will do everything he can to be there. But we won’t know until a couple of days.
“He wanted to play on but he wasn’t going to do himself or the team any favours – he was struggling to get about the pitch. I don’t know if it’s the same injury he’s had. He thought it was maybe his calf and he then maybe his knee.” environment here at Rangers, in terms of actually winning games.
“The team struggling was tough and it wasn’t something I was really used to. Even when I played games at youth level for Liverpool I was used to winning.
“So going into Sunderland was all new to me and I had to try and adapt. Mentally it was tough but I see it now as a good thing.
“It helped me be stronger mentally and it helped me prepare to come to such a big club like this.”
Bizarrely, the England under-21 midfielder has played more European games than domestic in his first four months at the club.
But he admitted: “That was a huge factor in me coming here, playing against different styles, against different teams, in different countries.
“We are all really looking forward to the European game but we have to worry about Hamilton first.”