Rangers 1-1 Hibernian: Stokes gives Rangers the blues

Published on Saturday 24 October 2009 19:51

REPORTS of the death of Scottish football may have been exaggerated. "Fabulous" is the adjective demanded of the encounter Rangers and Hibernian served up at Ibrox yesterday. More end-to-end than a basketball game, more great saves than a Peter Schmeichel compilation DVD and more to recommended it than a 100 typical SPL encounters. Hibs predictably were full of adventure. Yet, for all that has been said about them this week, so were Rangers.

Inside two minutes, both teams could have scored. If ever there was an opening that was tone setting, that was it. And, more than the lick of their passing play, their willingness to give it a go, what most impressed about John Hughes' side was their reaction to going behind to an eighth-minute goal from Kris Boyd, pictured.

Hughes beamed afterwards that Anthony Stokes' 63rd-minute equaliser was "a maverick finish from a maverick player" and his ball juggling that saw the Irishman hook the ball over Allan McGregor after eluding David Weir and Steven Whittaker with a bit of keepy-uppy gave the encounter the delightful goal it deserved.

Yet, it didn't really lack anything. Rangers had no fewer than four second-half penalty claims turned down. They ran the gamut. Kenny Miller definitely had his jersey pulled, Nacho Novo was possibly impeded by Sol Bamba, Steven Davis seemed fairly challenged, while Kris Boyd was rightfully booked for diving.

Then there were the late chances to win. Stokes jinked past two players on the byline before cutting back to Colin Nish in space when he might have shot, then Boyd and Novo combined to score a goal flagged offside in added time. The scoreline could easily have been 4-4, and the outstanding agility of the two keepers was to be cursed because it deserved to be a goalfest as well as a chancefest.

Still, even in the very best of games – "a great advert for Scottish football" said Hughes – you can't have everything. And Hibs, desperate to topple Rangers, ultimately couldn't have the result that would have allowed them to replace Rangers at the SPL summit. The draw, though, provided Celtic with that opportunity today at Hamilton.

Considering the apocalyptic events of Tuesday night, the Rangers supporters who trudged along to Ibrox yesterday betrayed few signs of apoplexy. More like narcolepsy, indeed, so subdued did they appear in the moments before kick-off. Plenty were vicious in their condemnation of Smith when vox-popped for radio, the 4-1 humiliation by Unirea Urziceni deemed to be a sackable offence for the man who reclaimed them the title after their longest period separated from it in more than two decades.

Yet, in light of the 53-year European low-point visited upon the Ibrox club by the Romanians, 14 months on from the debacle of Kaunas, Smith has also reclaimed his reputation for Champions League mishap, with his record in competition now five wins in 27 outings. The Rangers' manager's fiercest critics would claim his caution is responsible for such a calamitous statistic, and he was certainly not going to give them further ammunition with his selection against Hibs. He didn't just dispense with his 4-1-4-1 formation which, in fairness, he rarely employs in domestic home encounters. Smith went out all guns blazing with four forwards, Kyle Lafferty and Steven Naismith pushing up from the flanks in support of Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller. You could even argue that, when in possession, it would allow the home side to go 4-2-4, which is what, as we all knew, they were going to be up against in John Hughes' side.

When starved of such competition for so long, it is easy to see why the football fraternity outside of Ibrox, and Tynecastle, appeared so excited about Hibs contesting a top-of-the-table confrontation in which they could actually go top. But it all seemed a bit jacked-up. For all the talk of the Old Firm having lost their "fear factor" and their standards having dropped so the other teams are now more of a threat to them, results hardly back that up. This is the first year in five that, going in to the final week of October, the other ten have yet to inflict a defeat on either of the Glasgow clubs.

Which made Hibs' response to going a goal behind after only eight minutes all the more impressive. Conventional wisdom would have had it that Hibs' prospects of simply staying within three points of the Ibrox side at the SPL summit after Boyd's goal was slim. Especially when Rangers had ripped around with such intent at the opening they gave the impression their desperation to atone for their midweek collapse would see them overpower their visitors.

They simply took them apart when Steven Whittaker flighted a diagonal ball to the left flank for Lafferty to head across and Boyd to hook in. Until David Wotherspoon was removed after the hour, Rangers had countless joy down this channel. Hibs meanwhile, extracted their threat from various sources, building with the sleek passing and movement of Liam Miller and Merouane Zemmama. The latter tested McGregor on a couple of occasions, and hit the post, with Abdessalam Benjelloun also posing a threat.

Boyd, for his part, forever looked like adding to his goal, and only the outstretched hand of Stack prevented him doing so. The Irishman then pulled off a double stop as Rangers went on the offensive again just after the interval before the confrontation settled in to a breathless ebb and flow. It was a game you never wanted to end.

MAN OF THE MATCH

In all, each goalkeeper must have pulled off about half a dozen corking stops each. But for keeping his team in it either side of the interval, Graham Stack just edges it.

QUICK FACT

Hibs missed out on the chance to become the first non-Old Firm to top the league going into November since Hearts in 2005.

TALKING POINT

Even if they did not win, Hibs passed a significant test at Ibrox yesterday. John Hughes' side remain within a win of the champions, and for as long as they do so, Scottish football is a little bit more intriguing.

Hughes credits players for Hibs' bold play

JOHN Hughes last night revealed it was not him alone who determined his bold strategy at the home of the champions. The Easter Road manager dared to leave his 4-2-4 formation unchanged at Ibrox and put that down to those within it.

"I spoke to the players after training on Friday and they said to me they wanted to come and have a go," Hughes said. In doing so, they drew the best from Rangers in what was a mini-classic that leaves the Leith club two points behind the league leaders. "It was a great game," Hughes said. "The two sides were at each other, there were plenty of chances, plenty of goalmouth stuff. But, being the manager of Hibs, I'm so proud of my boys. We wanted to go and have a go at them and, on another day, we could've won."

Hughes' Rangers counterpart Smith spoke too of "a really good match" but felt, ultimately, it was two points dropped on a day he dropped the bombshell about the banks now controlling his club.

"If chances won points we would have taken all three," he said. "While Scottish football is in meltdown, it was a good match. Hibs were coming here to close the gap, we were told, and here we are."

Without Pedro Mendes and Madjid Bougherra, both lost to long-term injuries, and with Kevin Thomson also out, Smith was entitled to be satisfied with the character of his side a matter of four days after they were spectacularly undone by Unirea at Ibrox. Especially with Lee McCulloch limping off four minutes from half-time. "Considering the problems we are beginning to have injury-wise, the boys played exceptionally well," he said.