Alex McLeish’s men knew the importance of picking up three points against the Easter Road side and went about their business with a ruthlessness that has been sorely missing in recent weeks.
Every player in a Light Blue jersey played their part in the victory and the crowd’s rapturous applause at the end of an entertaining 90 minutes was certainly merited.
McLeish made three changes to the side that faced Celtic on February 12 with Brahim Hemdani getting the nod ahead of Bob Malcolm, Kris Boyd replacing Peter Lovenkrands and Marvin Andrews losing his place to Julian Rodriguez.
Having scored four goals against Rangers already this season, it was hardly surprising that Tony Mowbray elected to start with Ivan Sproule in attack alongside Garry O’ Connor.
Both players scored in the Hibees 3-0 Scottish Cup win at Ibrox two weeks ago and would have been high in confidence going into today’s crucial league showdown. Paul Dalglish was also included in the manager’s starting line-up ahead of Derek Riordan.
Rangers started the match in determined fashion and the home support were off their seats trying to claim for a penalty after only 2 minutes when Thomas Buffel sent a low cross into the box.
Chris Hogg stooped to header away but the ball got caught underneath his body before it was cleared from the danger zone.
A penalty would have been a harsh decision on the Hibs’ centre-half but Rangers then carved open a great opportunity of their own three minutes later when Prso fed the ball to Stevie Smith on the left.
He looked up before producing a perfect first-time cross but Buffel’s header went harmlessly wide.
Rangers were without doubt the better side in the early stages with Hemdani looking confident and composed alongside captain Barry Ferguson in the heart of midfield.
However, Hibs probably should have taken the lead on 16 minutes when Caldwell swung in a deep cross which found Stephen Glass unmarked. The midfielder tried to hit a first-time shot from 12 yards but hit his effort went straight at Waterreus much to the relief of the Gers’ back four who were caught sleeping.
Despite some sloppy defending Rangers continued to push forward with intent and Chris Burke was again a real threat on the wing.
He was the provider for his side’s next goalscoring opportunity when his corner was cleared to Kyrgiakos on the 18-yard line but the Greek’s audacious lob drifted wide of goal.
It could have been a costly miss as Hibs then missed two great chances to bag the opener.
The first came on 33 minutes when Stevie Smith’s loose pass to Ferguson was intercepted by Thompson. The midfielder played in Sproule who beat Waterreus with his shot only to be denied by a last ditch clearance from Kyrgiakos.
From the resulting corner, Celtic bound Gary Caldwell rose at the back post but his looping header was cleared off the line by Burke.
The Rangers supporters would have had their hearts in their mouths at this stage and the relief was palpable when their heroes finally found the net with five minutes of the first half remaining.
Burke again used his pace to get into the box and his delightful cut-back was dummied by Prso, leaving Boyd with the simplest of tasks to score his 25th goal of the season.
McLeish would have been delighted to see his side go in front but, in truth, both sides had chances in an excellent 45 minutes of football.
Rangers came out of the traps quickly in the second period and Prso almost raised the roof two minutes after the restart when he fired a low shot from 20 yards that hit Simon Brown’s right hand post before going out for a goal kick.
It was a shaky period for the Hibs keeper who had to be sharp when Caldwell almost diverted a cross into his own net.
Stevie Smith has become something of a fan’s favorurite in recent weeks and he almost doubled his side’s advantage on 62 minutes.
The young defender darted into the visitors box, cut inside Whittaker but blazed his right-foot shot wide although the ball did seem to bobble up at the moment of impact.
The Gers star’s commitment has been questioned in recent weeks but there was a fire in their bellies this afternoon and every player won their individual battles, none more so than Julien Rodriguez who was excellent throughout the 90 minutes.
Boyd could, and probably should, have scored his second of the game when he was found by his strike partner Prso but his turn and shot from 16 yards was well saved by Brown.
Just when it looked as though a second goal would never come it finally arrived on 74 minutes.
Hemdani played a deep cross into the box and when it was headed out to Ferguson, the captain’s sweet left-foot volley gave the keeper no chance.
With his side now totally dominating play, McLeish elected to give Gavin Rae a long-awaited run-out with 14 minutes remaining and the crowd welcomed back the midfielder with a fitting round of applause.
Rangers could have increased their lead in the final quarter of an hour with Rae, Buffel and Prso all missing chances to put extra shine on an terrific day’s work.
But with the team now back to winning ways after three consecutive defeats, the Light Blues can now look forward to Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Villarreal with renewed optimism.
RANGERS: Waterreus, Hutton, Kyrgiakos, Rodriguez, Smith, Burke, Ferguson, Hemdani (Rae 76), Buffel, Prso, Boyd
Subs Not Used: Klos, Andrews, Novo, Murray, Lovenkrands, Namouchi
Bookings: None
HIBERNIAN: Brown, Whittaker, Murphy, Caldwell, Hogg, Glass, Thomson (Riordan 60), Stewart, Dalglish (Fletcher 57), Sproule, O’Connor (Konte 82)
Subs Not Used: Malkowski, Smith, Konte, Shields, Konde
Bookings: Caldwell (59)
Referee: Ian Brines
Attendance: 49,720
Man of the Match: Chris Burke