With Celtic drawing at Livingston earlier in the day, the scenario looked really bright for Rangers but they not only failed to hold onto their lead but very nearly lost the match.
Hibs drew level with a spectacular Alen Orman strike and in the end the Easter Road side were quite comfortable in playing out the remainder of the match for a point.
Indeed if Stefan Klos had not been alert to Paco Luna’s header in 74 minutes and if the Uruguayan had shown more composure in injury time he might have headed a winning goal.
It all made for frustrating viewing for the supporters who watched Rangers fail to beat Livingston two weeks earlier and draws like that at home are just not good enough.
The positive side was that Lorenzo Amoruso and Claudio Reyna returned to the side and their experience will be crucial in Istanbul on Wendesday
The complexities which make up Amoruso’s football character, however, were all too evident in the early part of the match and unfortunately for Rangers it was a deficiency defensively which allowed Hibs to take the lead in 18 minutes.
The powerful Italian, back in the side for the first time since the 3-0 win in Maribor, had started the game so well in an offensive way which some exquisite passing and movement.
A wonderful pass with the outside of his right boot found Fernando Ricksen scampering down the right side and the Dutchman hardly had to break stride before producing a useful cross which was heading for Tore Andre Flo but was cut out by Franck Sauzee.
Then in 10 minute Amoruso made a marvellous run out of his own half, evading Hibs players as if they were not there, before releasing Russell Latapy on the left side. Latapy managed to find Michael Mols in a packed box but the striker squeezed a shot wide when he seemed certain to score.
The down side came eight minutes later when Amoruso was caught dreaming a bit when Hibs worked a freekick from their own half. Sauzee played the ball forward and Craig Brewster laid it off to Tom McManus who was, inexplicably, unmarked on the edge of the box.
The young Hibs striker did not need an invitation to shoot and promptly drove a right foot shot past Stefan Klos into the left corner. Amoruso looked at Numan and Numan looked at him. Whatever happened, it was a blunder and Rangers paid dearly.
Bert Konterman nearly pulled Rangers level almost immediately with a thunderous 30-yard shot in 23 minutes which flew just over the top. However, the Rangers fans only had to wait a further three minutes for the levelling strike.
The persistence of Flo was key as be shook off three challenges around the 18-yard line to thread a pass into Claudio Reyna, who was also making his comeback from injury.
Captain America cleverly laid it back for young Stephen Hughes and he fired a right foot shot which deflected off Ulrik Laursen and into the Hibs net for his first top team goal.
It was a fitting reward for the performances the teenager has produced since coming into the side and it was just what Rangers needed to settle them down after going behind.
Sauzee was booked for a foul on Flo in 34 minutes and although nothing came off the freekick from a Rangers point of view, it was a painful moment for Grant Brebner. Amoruso hammered the deadball straight into the face of the Hibs midfielder who needed three minutes’ treatment before he could continue.
Laursen then caused some unnecessary yellow card action from Mr. Underhill two minutes before half-time. McManus caught Ricksen late but Laursen had a go at the Rangers fullback, implying he was faking.
Reyna took exception to this and pushed Laursen away. In the end McManus, Laursen and Reyna were all cautioned. There were fireworks of a different kind to come.
Within three minutes of the restart Rangers roared into the lead. Reyna’s header forward into the box found Flo and even although he was hauled to the ground from the back by Paul Fenwick he managed to squeeze a left foot shot in off the right hand post as he fell.
The referee was going to give a penalty but sensibly allowed the goal to stand and Flo celebrated his fifth strike of the season.
The scene was set, it seemed, for Ranges to power on and secure all three points in some style but Hibs were not about to buckle and got back on level terms in the most spectacular style 10 minutes later.
The ball was worked over from the left and John O’Neill cleverly laid it into the path of Bosnian Alen Orman who produced a fantastic left foot shot which ripped into the top right hand corner.
Again, there was a slackness about Rangers’ marking but there was little Klos could do about the quality of the strike.
Advocaat brought on de Boer for Latapy, who had been surprisingly ineffective against his former club, but it was Hibs who looked the stronger at this stage.
De Boer did produce a crisp pass in 70 minutes which gave Mols the glimpse of a chance but the striker’s shot was deflected for a corner. Then in 81 minutes Mols carved out a chance for himself.
He burst to life just outside the box to shake off three Hibs defenders before hammering a right foot shot which Nick Colgan spilled but held at the second attempt.
And that was about the strength of it as Rangers failed to win at home for the second time these season and even at this early stage, Advocaat knows how costly this is.
RANGERS: Klos; Ricksen, Wilson, Amoruso, Numan; Reyna, Konterman, Hughes (Lovenkrands 84); Latapy (de Boer 60); Flo, Mols. Subs not used – Christiansen, Kanchelskis, Vidmar.
Bookings: Reyna (43)
HIBS: Colgan; Fenwick, Sauzee, Laursen; Orman (de la Cruz 79), Brebner, Jack, Murray; O’Neill; Brewster (Zitelli 71), McManus (Luna 66). Subs not used – Caig, Smith.
Bookings: Orman (22), Sauzee (34), McManus (43), Laursen (43), Brewster (63)
Att: 45,940.
Ref: John Underhill.
Man of the match: Stephen Hughes.
Moment of the match: Hughes’ first goal for Rangers.