Rangers cut gap at top of Premiership with comfortable win at Hibernian
Rangers closed the gap on the Scottish Premiership leaders, Celtic, with an impressive 3-0 win against Hibernian at Easter Road.
Ridvan Yilmaz hammered in the opener for Rangers on the half-hour before Todd Cantwell arrowed in an unstoppable shot seconds before the break.
The quality of the goals was at odds with the error-strewn first 45 minutes and Cyriel Dessers added a third in the 74th minute soon after the striker climbed off the bench to take his tally for the season to 11.
Hibs spurned some chances but ultimately Philippe Clement’s side moved five points behind their Old Firm rivals with one game in hand.
The home side went into the game looking for their first league win in four games and Myziane Maolida, who joined on loan from Hertha Berlin last week, made his debut with fellow new signings Luke Amos and Emiliano Marcondes
on the bench.
Nick Montgomery made five changes in total with Kanayo Megwa,
Dylan Vente, Dylan Levitt and Jordan Obita also coming in.
The visitors had to contend with the absence of the suspended centreback Connor Goldson, his place taken by John Souttar with the No 1 goalkeeper Jack Butland taking over from Robby McCrorie and a first competitive start for the new loan signing Fabio Silva, in for Dessers.
As the smoke still cleared from the pyros displayed by the Gers fans, the Hibs attacker Elie Youan’s angled-drive from a Levitt pass was blocked by the legs of Butland at his near post for a corner which came to nothing.
The Rangers winger Rabbi Matondo just failed to get on to the end of a Yilmaz corner which had been flicked on to the back post.
The game drifted through the first half but burst into life when the Rangers midfielder John Lundstram picked out Yilmaz with a chipped pass and the Turkish left-back lashed a shot high past the keeper David Marshall from 12 yards for his first league goal for Rangers.
Hibs had chances to level. Butland saved again at his near post, this time from Jair Tavares and then Youan headed a Joe Newell free-kick inches
wide before testing Butland with a drive from the edge of the box which was tipped over for another fruitless corner.
Hibs were well in the game but their task became more difficult when Cantwell, who had been quiet, took a pass from the winger Ross McCausland and thundered a drive from the edge of the box past the diving Marshall for his third goal in five matches.
The former Norwich player and Nico Raskin stayed in at the break, replaced by Tom Lawrence and Dujon Sterling, but Rangers started the second half in a strong position.
However, in the 52nd minute Maolida should have reduced the deficit from 14 yards after Youan had set him up with a cut-back but his drive was saved by Butland.
Marcondes, who joined Hibs from Bournemouth on Monday, replaced Maolida to make his debut with Jimmy Jeggo on for Newell. Before long the midfielder Luke Amos, signed earlier in the day on an 18-month contract after leaving QPR at the end of last season, also came on to make his debut.
However, it was the Rangers substitute Dessers, just on for Silva, who trundled the ball over the line from 10 yards despite the efforts of the defender Will Fish to clear, and there was time for Lawrence to stab the ball into the net from a Jack cross before being ruled offside.
St Johnstone debutant Keltjens denies Aberdeen
David Keltjens scored on his debut to earn St Johnstone a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen after his captain, Liam Gordon, twice fell foul of dubious game-changing VAR decisions.
Gordon was penalised for a foul on Jamie McGrath after Graham Carey thought he had volleyed Saints in front in the 49th minute.
And the defender was again adjudged to have committed a foul after John Beaton was called to his monitor by the video assistant Steven Kirkland for a second time to review an incident in the other box. Bojan Miovski took advantage as he converted the 62ndminute penalty.
McGrath had already cleared the ball towards Carey when he was caught on the foot by Gordon and the penalty incident was similar. The centreback was ruled to have caught Slobodan Rubezic as both attempted to meet Connor Barron’s corner.
Neither foul seemed clear and obvious, certainly to the vast majority of the 3,472 fans inside McDiarmid Park.
But Saints refused to fall victim to a hard-luck story and Keltjens took advantage of some poor goalkeeping from Kelle Roos to head home in the 78th minute as Aberdeen missed the chance to move into the Premiership top six.