Our unbeaten start under new boss Nick Montgomery came to an end as we were defeated 4-0 by Rangers at Ibrox.
We were well beaten on an afternoon to forget in Govan as the rampant hosts merited their convincing victory.
Abdallah Sima scored twice, whilst Nicolas Raskin and Cyriel Dessers grabbed the others during a disappointing 90 minutes.
Montgomery had named an attacking line-up as we set up in our familiar 4-4-2 formation at kick-off.
There were two changes to our starting XI following a draw with Hearts in our last outing, with Paul Hanlon restored to the defence – making his 550th Hibs appearance – at the expense of Rocky Bushiri, whilst Adam Le Fondre replaced Christian Doidge in attack.
Goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott continued his comeback from injury and was listed amongst the substitutes.
Skipper Hanlon led the boys out at an expectant Ibrox Stadium as Philippe Clement took charge of the hosts for the first time. Both teams showed their support for Show Racism the Red Card’s Match Actions campaign before and during the match.
Rangers started on the front foot and carved out the opening opportunity when James Tavernier intercepted a pass from Jordan Obita, intended for Elie Youan, before setting Sam Lammers off and running; he drove forward on the right before seeing his shot deflected wide by Will Fish.
At the other end, Dylan Vente forced Jack Butland into a save at his near post with a half-volley.
Moments later a long throw from Lewis Miller was missed by John Souttar at the front post, Hanlon tried to react but couldn’t turn it in and Vente’s back post shot was blocked by Lammers.
Rangers perhaps should have scored when Tavernier’s cross from the right found Dessers drifting off his marker’s shoulder before volleying straight at David Marshall, who saved.
Having started relatively well, Hibs were opened up on 16 minutes when Sima burst through on the right and his low, angled finish found the far corner of the net.
Buoyed after the opening goal, Rangers pushed to add to their advantage with Sima shooting just wide with a curling effort after an old fashion stramash in our penalty box.
The match became scrappy with both teams guilty of dwelling on possession too long and although Rangers enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, we did remain a threat on the counterattack.
On the cusp of half-time we suffered a body blow as Rangers doubled their advantage when Raskin’s long range effort found the bottom corner of Marshall’s goal and changed the complexion of the match going into the interval.
Whether that goal led to one or two heads dropping or not, we certainly started the second half poorly and continued to shoot ourselves in the foot with slack play.
On 52 minutes, an under-hit pass from Jimmy Jeggo was cut out by Scott Wright who drove towards goal before squaring to Dessers who shot straight at Marshall with the goal at his mercy.
Then a poor clearance from Marshall was pounced upon by John Lundstram and with the goalkeeper stranded he tried to lob him only to get his effort all wrong.
Moments later, Hanlon failed to clear under pressure from Dessers and Lammers should have scored yet somehow managed to hit the post from only a couple of yards out.
Substitute Todd Cantwell came into the game and threaded a ball through for Dessers who rounded Marshall and had efforts blocked by Miller, then Hanlon, before Sima smashed in the rebound.
We made five substitutes in relatively quick succession to change the pattern of the game however we were unable to stunt Rangers’ dominance.
They added a fourth just seconds later when Cantwell again opened us up and Dessers produced a composed finish into the bottom left corner of our net.
In the dying minutes the hosts could have added to their lead with Danilo dragging a shot just wide from 16 yards before Sima – searching for his hat-trick – had a shot blocked by Fish. Raskin also had a chance to make it 5-0, but was also prevented from scoring by Fish.
A bitterly disappointing afternoon for Hibs and a big improvement will be needed next weekend against Celtic.
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic (Ridvan 12’), Lundstram, Raskin, Lammers (McCausland 80’), Sima, Wright (Cantwell 58’), Dessers (Danilo 80’). Substitutes not used: McCrorie, Jack, Roofe, Davies, Balogun.
Hibernian: Marshall, Miller (Whittaker 68’), Hanlon (Bushiri 68’), Fish, Obita, Newell, Jeggo (Levitt 60’), Boyle, Youan, Vente (Doidge 73’), Le Fondre (Jair 68’). Substitutes not used: Wollacott, Stevenson, Delferriere, Campbell.
Referee: Don Robertson.
Attendance: 49,535.
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