Inspirational striker David Zitelli was the catalyst for a first-half performance which had the Light Blues reeling. The French ace ran riot with several early chances and I felt it was just a matter of time before Hibs took the lead.
Dick Advocaat’s hand was forced in this match and he had no option but to give several fringe players an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting slot. Without the likes of Ronald de Boer, Gio van Bronckhordt, Michael Mors and Arthur Numan it was never going to be an easy trip to the capital.
But Rangers never looked likely to bring three points back down the M8 as the Hibees – superbly marshalled by Franck Sauzee – showed spirit right until the end.
Zitelli’s 23rd-minute strike was well taken after a superb pass from John O’Neil split the Light Blues’ defence.
Republic of Ireland keeper Nick Colgan was never troubled by the Rangers front pairing of Billy Dodds and Peter Lovenkrands.
Andrei Kanchelskis and former Easter Road man Kenny Miller replaced Sergio Porrini and Allan Johnston at the break and the Russian must have thought his luck was in when he went down in the box.
I thought at first it was a stonewall decision, but looking at it again, he probably waited too long and took another step before falling.
I couldn’t believe it when Kenny Clark booked Andrei for diving and then nearer the end dismissed him for a tackle on Matthias Jack – both harsh decisions.
It doesn’t matter how big your squad is, there aren’t many teams who can afford to have nine potential first-team players out and win.
After the tepid first-half display the second 45 minutes were a bit better and all might not have been lost as a 10-man Gers forced the home side to camp inside their own box.
Lovenkrands should have fired the ball into the empty net in the dying minutes and Rangers would have got a point they deserved.