Stephen Halliday's Rangers verdict: Alfredo Morelos was back to sailing needlessly close to wind

As a one-man headline-generating machine, Alfredo Morelos has few peers in Scottish football.

Alfredo Morelos mkes the breakthrough for Rangers at Easter Road as he guides a shot beyond Hibs goalkeeper Ofir Marciano. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The Colombian striker was at his newsworthy best again at Easter Road, securing another victory for Rangers on their road to the Premiership title with a goal scored when he could consider himself fortunate to still be on the pitch.

Morelos has managed to curb many of the excesses which saw previous seasons marred by a rash of red cards. But he was back to sailing needlessly close to the wind with a 19th-minute stamp on Hibs defender Ryan Porteous which went unpunished by referee Kevin Clancy.

Thankfully for Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, the more productive side of Morelos’ make-up came to the fore six minutes into the second half when the 24-year-old finished off a slick move for the only goal of the game as the Ibrox men maintained their 23-point lead over Celtic at the top of the table.

Hibs captain Darren McGregor leads the protests as Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos appears to stamp on Ryan Porteous. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Stripped of suspense

A trip to Leith would normally be the kind of fixture regarded as a litmus test of Rangers’ title prospects at this stage of a season.

But the size of the gap they have relentlessly built up at the top of the table has stripped much of the suspense out of occasions like these. Even the most determinedly pessimistic of their supporters were able to tune in with a relatively relaxed frame of mind, safe in the knowledge the ultimate outcome of this particular race for the crown would not be impacted, regardless of the result here.

That said, Rangers’ single-minded focus on the particular job in hand has been a key factor in their success so far this season and there was no diminishment of their desire for yet another three points.

As Gerrard had highlighted in the build-up to the contest, the worn and rutted playing surface was an issue but one which applied equally to both sides.

How it played out

There was quickly a sense that set pieces may offer the likeliest route for a breakthrough and Connor Goldson might have snatched one for Rangers inside the opening two minutes when he glanced a header wide from James Tavernier’s free-kick.

Filip Helander, perhaps more of a natural defender than the pacier Leon Balogun, retained his place at the heart of Rangers’ back four alongside Goldson and the big Swede displayed those instincts to good effect when he blocked Christian Doidge in a dangerous position inside the box.

While Rangers were dominant in possession, their final pass in and around the Hibs penalty area generally lacked accuracy or incision in a scrappy first half. Joe Aribo might have done better than shoot straight at Ofir Marciano, while Morelos saw a shot blocked by Porteous, but the best chance of the opening period fell to Hibs.

When Allan McGregor couldn’t hold a driven cross from Chris Cadden, Doidge managed to feed the loose ball into the path of Jackson Irvine who wastefully blazed over from close range.

Rangers were rewarded for a noticeable increase in tempo at the start of the second half when Morelos made the breakthrough. Some delightful one-touch passing from Steven Davis and Aribo played the striker in and he clipped his 11th goal of the season – and fourth in his last six games - beyond Marciano.

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