Tom Lawrence’s moment of magic gave disjointed Rangers a 1-0 William Hill Premiership win over Hibernian at Ibrox.
The Govan stadium was fully-opened for the first time since the completion of the Copland Stand refurbishment but there was an inertia about the home side until the Gers midfielder broke the deadlock in the 34th minute with a wonderful curling finish.
Light Blues goalkeeper Jack Butland saved a Mykola Kukharevych penalty just before the break but even that failed to fire up Philippe Clement’s team, who looked a shadow of the side who convincingly beat Malmo 2-0 in the Europa League opener on Thursday night.
Nevertheless, despite a lacklustre performance, Rangers made it four wins in a row since the 3-0 defeat by Celtic at Parkhead at the start of the month to move five points behind their Old Firm rivals and Aberdeen at the top of the table.
Unsurprisingly, after their European exertions, Clement rotated his squad.
Left-back Jefte returned from suspension with midfielder Nico Raskin and winger Ross McCausland starting along with striker Hamza Igamane, who missed out on Thursday’s match in Sweden because of passport problems.
David Gray, whose Hibs side were unbeaten in three games, gave winger Junior Hoilett his first start, with Lewis Miller in at full-back and Josh Campbell back in the side.
Hibs had the first real chances, Hoilett clearing the bar with an effort from inside the box before a drive from midfielder Kwon Hyeok-kyu was blocked by Gers defender John Souttar but it was a mostly dull start to proceedings.
However, just after the half-hour mark Lawrence took a McCausland pass and curled the ball high into the net from the edge of the box with perfect execution.
The offside flag went up to deflate the home supporters, only for VAR to eventually confirm that the goal was good.
It was Lawrence’s third goal of the season, matching last season’s tally and it lifted the crowd, if only momentarily.
Igamane flashed a shot over the bar and Kwon came close with a drive from outside the box which was touched behind by Butland.
From the resultant corner there was a VAR check for a Hibs penalty when Souttar handled Kukharevych’s shot.
Referee Nick Walsh checked his pitchside monitor and pointed to the spot, with cheers ringing out when Butland dived to his right to save from the Hibs attacker.
McCausland and Raskin made way for Kieran Dowell and Nedim Bajrami for the start of the second half and then Cyriel Dessers took over from Igamane, who had been quiet but it was the visitors who took a grip of the game.
Clement appeared to react to groans from the Gers fans after Vaclav Cerny passed the ball backwards rather than thrusting towards the Hibs goal and spoke at length with the winger after replacing him with Dujon Sterling moments later.
Dwight Gayle came on to make his debut for the visitors, taking over from Hoilett, with Elie Youan coming on for Kukharevych.
Rangers simply could not into top gear, to the increasing frustration of the home support.
Dessers missed a good chance to double the lead in the 81st minute when he headed a cross from fellow substitute Bajrami straight at keeper Josef Bursik, before Hibs substitute Gayle headed past the post from close range.
Gers defender Robin Propper then headed high over the bar with three minutes remaining, leaving Rangers to nervously defend their slender lead until the final whistle.
Ange Postecoglou insisted his controversial cupped ear celebration to Tottenham fans in a 1-0 loss at Chelsea had been misinterpreted on another bad night for the Australian.Spurs slipped to a 16th defeat in the Premier League this season thanks to a 50th-minute header by Enzo Fernandez, but it only told half the story of a typically frenzied London derby.VAR was required to rule out a fine strike...
Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League’s top four as Enzo Fernandez’s header early in the second half earned a 1-0 derby win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.Enzo Maresca’s side were under pressure after limping into the international break playing football that had ceased to excite home fans, but they largely had the better of a disappointing Spurs team that failed to tak...
Manchester United will beat Arsenal to the signing of fearsome Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres this summer, according to a Liverpool legend.Gyokeres is one of the most in-demand centre-forwards in the world after registering an incredible 85 goals in 92 appearances for Sporting CP since joining the club in July 2023. The 26-year-old was prevented from leaving last summer by a massive €100mil...
The Canada international is poised to become a free agent this summer, leading to plenty of interest in him from top Premier League clubs.According to Empire of the Kop, it now looks like Liverpool are serious contenders to sign David ahead of the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham.It's not often quality players like David are available for free, so it ...
Ollie Watkins was a transfer target for Arsenal back in JanuaryArsenal are gearing up for a busy summer transfer window with a new striker at the top of Mikel Arteta's wishlist. But there are seemingly no plans to rekindle their interest in Ollie Watkins after their failed January swoop for the Aston Villa star.Watkins, 29, emerged as a surprise target for the Gunners in the winter transfer window...
Man Utd hand Amir Ibragimov his first professional contract🚨✍🏻 Official: Amir Ibragimov has signed his first professional contract for Manchester United.He’s highly rated internally among talents for the future. pic.twitter.com/YrkLvNUeRd— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 3, 2025Real Madrid sign highly-rated Diego Aguado🚨⚪️ 18 year old talent Diego Aguado has signed new deal at ...
David Moyes believes James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid a red card for his reckless challenge on Alexis Mac Allister as Everton were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal, which Moyes claimed should have been ruled out for offside, gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were...
Jack Grealish dedicated his goal to his late brother after scoring in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester on Wednesday.The England international hit his first Premier League goal for 16 months, on his first start in the competition since last December, as City moved back into fourth with a comfortable success at the Etihad Stadium.It came on the 25th anniversary of...
David Moyes bemoaned an “offside” goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Everton – but admitted James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid an early red card on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were left unhappy with decisions from referee Sam Barr...
Eddie Howe hailed Sandro Tonali’s shooting power after seeing him cap a fine display with a stunning winner to edge Newcastle into the race for Champions League qualification.The 24-year-old Italy international brought an incident-packed encounter to a fitting conclusion with a 74th-minute piledriver which beat goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle to hand the Magpies a precious 2...
- 1 Hot WAG flaunts 'astonishing' washboard abs in bikini
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 7 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 8 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 9 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis
- 10 Chelsea prepare €70m for Barcelona defender