Rangers 3-0 Hibs: Dream to split the Old Firm at an end

A tenth goal of the season from ex-Hibs star Steven Whittaker, a penalty from Kris Boyd and an injury time strike from Kenny Miller were enough to send Hibs spinning to defeat at Ibrox and to leave the SPL title chase a two-horse race between Rangers and Celtic.

The Edinburgh club had arrived in Glasgow knowing victory today and in their match in hand against St Johnstone on Wednesday night would see them split the Old Firm, but those two second half goals put paid to that dream.

Hibs boss John Hughes made four changes to the side which fought back to salvage a point against Aberdeen in midweek, Colin Nish, Derek Riordan, Kevin McBride and David Wotherspoon all dropping to the bench as he drafted in Merouane Zemmama, Alan Gow, Abdessalam Benjelloun and Paul Hanlon.

The first opening, however, fell to Rangers, former Easter Road star Kenny Miller lashing wildly over after Sol Bamba's pass And Hughes made his intentions clear, deploying his side in a bold 4-2-4 formation.

It was Rangers, though who enjoyed the first opening, Kenny Miller lashing the ball high and wife after Sol Bamba's pass into midfield had been picked off by Lee McCulloch.

Hibs, though, went even closer in the 17th minute, Zemmama sprinting to the bye-line before delivering a deep cross which found the Edinburgh club's leading scorer all by himself. But he elected to take the shot on the volley, missing his kick in the process.

The Ibrox crowd erupted in fury as referee Steven Conroy stopped play after Ian Murray's full-blooded clearance had caught team-mate John Rankin full in the face, the little midfielder crumpling to the turf as the ball broke in Rangers favour with Hibs short-handed in defence.

Rankin, thankfully, recovered after a spell of treatment as a match which had taken time to get going caught fire, Liam Miller losing out to Demarcus Beasley but rescued by Bamba's intervention before young Paul Hanlon twice stepped in with superbly timed challenges, heading clear Sasa Papac's dangerous cross and then halting Kenny Miller in his tracks after he'd been set free by Davie Weir's crossfield pass.

Liam Miller caused havoc in the Rangers penalty area as he drove through a ruck of challenges only to be crowded out before Madjid Bougherra came up with a last-ditch tackle to prevent Zemmama scoring. From the resultant corner Zemmama picked out Hanlon at the back post, the Scotland Under-21 defender powering a header down into the turf, the ball rearing up for Papac to head away from under his own bar.

Zemmama found himself the centre of the home fans' ire on the stroke of half-time as he went down clutching his face after a touchline tussle with Kris Boyd, the Rangers striker picking up a yellow card on the advice of assistant Martin Cryans. The Rangers support clearly thought the little Moroccan had conned the ref but television pictures showed a clear use of the elbow by Boyd.

Unsurprisingly, Rangers replaced the ineffective Beasley with Kyle Lafferty after the interval and the Northern Ireland striker made an immediate impact, laying Whittaker's pass back off into the path of the former Hibs star who wasted no time in blasting an unstoppable left foot shot beyond Graeme Smith from 16 yards.

Hibs thought they'd equalised in the 70th minute when Allan McGregor couldn't hold Zemmama's powerfully struck low shot but the Rangers goalkeeper managed to dive on the ball to prevent it squirming over the line.

And Rangers took full advantage of that escape as Bamba brought Kenny Miller tumbling down, referee Conroy having no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot although the visiting players protested furiously that the ball had been running away from teh Rangers striker.

Boyd stepped up and although Hibs goalkeeper Graeme Smith guessed right the Rangers striker's shot carried too much power as the ball fizzed into the bottom corner of the net.

Hibs were suddenly looking ragged, Bamba inexplicably stepping over a low cross from Kenny Miller, the ball breaking off substitute Nacho Novo and passing inches wide of the target from a couple of yards out.

And as the game moved into injury time Hibs substitute Kevin McBride slipped, injuring himself in the process, allowing Kenny Miller to race in and make it three.

Rangers: McGregor, Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Davis, McCulloch, Thomson, Beasley (Lafferty 46), K Miller, Boyd (Novo 72). Subs not used: Alexander, Edu, Lafferty, Little, Wilson, Wylde.

Hibs: Smith, Hogg, Bamba, Hanlon Murray, L Miller, Rankin (McBride 84), Zemmama (Nish 78), Stokes, Benjelloun, Gow (Riordan). Subs not used: Stack, Cregg, Stevenson, Wotherspoon.

Referee: Steve Conroy.