NINE man Rangers were held to a 2-2 draw at Easter Road this afternoon in the Scottish Premiership.
After going ahead through a James Tavernier penalty in the first half, Martin Boyle equalised just after the break before Tom Lawrence put Gers back in front.
John Lundstram and Alfredo Morelos both then saw red before Hibs’ numerical advantage told in the third minute of stoppage time with Josh Campbell equalising for the hosts.
From the team which drew 2-2 against PSV Eindhoven in Champions League qualifying in midweek, in came Ryan Jack and Rabbi Matondo, taking the places of Steven Davis and Malik Tillman.
That meant it was the same back five of Jon McLaughlin in goal with James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, James Sands and Borna Barisic in front of him.
Jack joined John Lundstram and Tom Lawrence in the middle of the park, with Matondo and Ryan Kent playing in support of Antonio Colak.
Davis and Tillman both made the bench this afternoon next to Allan McGregor, Ridvan, Leon King, Scott Arfield, Alfredo Morelos, Scott Wright and Fashion Jr.
After the usual, frantic start from the home side which Gers weathered, they began to ease their way into the match, passing the ball well and looking for that opening on the excellent surface in Leith.
Kent had the first big opening of the game when he ghosted away from Chris Cadden on the edge of the box to get in for a shot, but he dallied and Hibs were able to nip in and clear.
Colak couldn’t quite steer a Barisic cross goalwards, while Kent had another opportunity to curl a shot that went just over from the edge of the box.
Lawrence then found himself in space in the area, but opted to try and play Kent in rather than shooting with Hibs able to clear the danger, before Tavernier then stepped onto a loose Hibs clearance to shoot just wide from 25-yards.
Then, on the stroke of half-time, Rangers were awarded a penalty. Hibs played the ball back to goalkeeper David Marshall, and as Colak looked to chase down the goalkeeper, he was clipped by Rocky Bushiri inside the area, with referee Willie Collum having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Up stepped the captain to take, and he made no mistake, beating Marshall to his left for his third goal of the season already.
Into the second half, and an excellent free-kick delivery from Tavernier was hit goalwards by Sands in the box, but Christian Doidge made a fine block to prevent it going 2-0.
But rather than going to 2-0, the scores went to 1-1 with Hibs claiming an equaliser on 51 minutes. Elie Youan was given too much space to get in behind and to cross, and he picked out Martin Boyle in the six yard box to fire past McLaughlin.
Colak shot over on the end of a Matondo cross as Gers looked to hit back – and hit back they did on 58 minutes with a super piece of football.
It all began in midfield with Jack spraying a super ball wide for Kent. Barisic made the run beyond him and got to just before the byline before delivering a stunning cross into the area.
Coming onto that cross having made what is now becoming a typical late run from midfield was Tom Lawrence to bullet a header past Marshall and into the back of the net.
Gers continued to push for a third, but they were dealt a blow on 67 minutes as John Lundstram was shown what looked to be a harsh red card.
Boyle looked to bring the ball away from the Gers goal for Hibs, and while Lundstram definitely brought him down cynically, there was no malice, albeit referee Collum was in no doubt as to the colour of the card.
That was a big enough blow for Gers, and things got even harder for them eight minutes later, with sub Alfredo Morelos also shown a straight red for an alleged elbow on Marijan Cabraja.
Hibs naturally took over from that point in-terms of possession, and Cabraja had a decent effort well-held in the end by McLaughlin.
Doidge then headed wide on the end of a corner, while Boyle stung the gloves of McLaughlin from 25-yards.
Just as it looked as though Gers would see it out, however, Josh Campbell’s 25-yard shot found the top corner in the third minute of stoppage time to level matters at 2-2.
RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Sands, Barisic, Jack, Lundstram, Lawrence (Arfield, 62), Matondo (Davis, 68), Kent (King, 78), Colak (Morelos, 62).
SUBS: McGregor, Ridvan, Tillman, Wright, Fashion Jr.
HIBERNIAN: Marshall, Hanlon (Cabraya, 28), Porteous (Bojang, 90), Doyle-Hayes, Newell, Cadden, Henderson (Doidge, 28), Youan, Campbell,, Bushiri, Boyle.
SUBS: Dabrowski, Miller, Kenneh, Tavares, McGregor, McClelland.
REFEREE: Willie Collum
ATTENDANCE: 18,245
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