By Robert McElroy
Hibernian 3 (Boyle 2 [32, 60 pen], Bushiri 82) Rangers 3 (Igamane 3 [4, 19, 74]
Attendance 17,539
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Rangers squandered a two-goal lead against Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday afternoon. Eventually having to settle for a solitary point in a 3-3 draw – in a game that most definitely should have been won.
On a bitterly cold day in Edinburgh, Philippe Clement fielded an unchanged side from Thursday’s ‘Old Firm’ victory at Ibrox.
Rangers got off to the perfect start, opening the scoring after just four minutes when – from a Ianis Hagi cutback – Hamza Igamane rifled the ball home.
The Ibrox men were well on top in these early stages, cutting through the Hibs defence almost at will – Nedim Bajrami coming close to adding a second goal soon afterwards when his shot was blocked.
A superb cross-field pass from Mohamed Diomande in the 18th minute found Vaclav Cerny on the right – cutting inside, the winger saw his left-foot shot turned wide by home ‘keeper Jordan Smith.
Sixty seconds later however it was 2-0 when from a Bajrami cross Igamane’s header found the back of the net despite Smith getting a hand to the ball.
Rangers looked capable of scoring with almost every attack – and perhaps for that reason complacency set in amongst the visitors’ ranks.
If so, such complacency would prove costly, for just after the half-hour mark following a Lewis Miller free-kick Martin Boyle reduced the deficit with a shot from the edge of the area from a Rocky Bushiri lay-off.
Suddenly it was game on again – but Rangers did hold their 2-1 lead until the interval.
Philippe Clement could not have been too happy at the turn of events – but opted against making any changes at the interval.
Six minutes after the restart Igamane’s drive from the edge of the area from a Bajrami lay-off was turned wide by Smith as Rangers sought to restore their two-goal lead.
The next goal was clearly going to be crucial – and it arrived on the hour when Boyle blasted home a spot-kick awarded by Referee John Beaton for an alleged Hagi foul on Josh Campbell. It was a soft award to say the least – at most it appeared to be an accidental collision between two players chasing after the ball – but nevertheless one upheld by VAR – and suddenly Hibernian believed they could go on to win.
That belief was underlined midway through the second-half when Lewis Miller’s powerful drive was beaten away by Liam Kelly then in the next attack Miller’s header struck the base of an upright.
Philippe Clement made a triple substitution n the seventieth minute with Leon King, Oscar Cortes and Danilo coming on for the injured Dujan Sterling, Hagi and Bajrami.
Rangers regained the lead four minutes later when from a Cerny cutback Igamane swept the ball home to complete his hat-trick.
It was the perfect hat-trick – one left-foot, one right-foot and one header – and quite remarkably the first in the Scottish Premiership since May 2023.
The Ibrox men were now on top – and looking capable of restoring their two-goal advantage – but somehow Hibernian levelled the scores once again when from a Nicky Cadden corner Bushiri rose to head home, although there certainly appeared to be an infringement in the lead-up to the header.
Nevertheless it was now all-square once again, yet in the dying minutes of a remarkable game
that man Igamane came agonisingly close when breaking free from the halfway line only to see his shot strike the outside of a post.
3-3 was the final score, and whilst the game was certainly an entertaining one the inescapable conclusion was that it was two points thrown away as far as Rangers were concerned.
Hibernian: Smith; Miller, Bushiri, Iredale; C. Cadden, Triantis, Campbell, Kwon (Moriah-Welsh 55), N. Cadden; Boyle, Gayle
Unused Subs: McKirdy, Bursik, O’Hora, Levitt, Amos, Obita, Hoilett, Molotnikov
Rangers: Kelly; Yilmaz, Sterling (King 70), Propper, Jefte; Cerny (Barron 81, Diomande, Raskin, Bajrami (Danilo 70), Hagi (Cortes 70); Igamane
Unused Subs: Matondo, Munn, Dessers, Nsiala, Dowell
Referee: John Beaton