And goals from Steven Whittaker, Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller secured a thoroughly deserved win against their Edinburgh rivals.
It was a quite devastating display from the home side who knew the importance of a win following Celtic’s 4-4 draw at Pittodrie the previous day.
DaMarcus Beasley made a sensational return to the starting eleven while Kevin Thomson was also back and played alongside Lee McCulloch in the heart of midfield.
Both were superb along with Steven Davis who must be in the best form of his career.
With so much at stake for both teams it was hardly surprising that the opening ten minutes were tight but Rangers quickly got in to their stride with Beasley seeing a lot of the ball and winning several free-kicks.
During this period Kenny Miller had the best chance to open the scoring.
Thomson won a 50/50 in midfield before feeding it to his teammate who fired a rising left foot shot over the bar from 20 yards.
In truth he would have been better playing in Beasley who had made a lung bursting run through the middle to receive the ball.
With the visitors struggling to match Rangers’ power and determination it was not long before a bit of frustration set in and on 14 minutes Liam Miller looked to kick McCulloch off the ball.
The midfielder was left lying on the ground in pain and had ref Steve Conroy had seen the incident Miller could have been sent for an early bath.
But Walter Smith would have been content with his side’s start as Davis and Beasley were providing plenty of width while McCulloch and Thomson were flying in to every challenge and supporting the front two.
Hibs, on the other hand, were struggling to keep possession but Sasa Papac had to work hard to contain Zemmama who was proving a threat on the right wing.
The first booking of the game arrived on the half mark with Kevin Thomson the recipient.
With Hibs clearing a corner and on the counter attack Thomson stumbled as he tried to tackle Zemmama.
The tricky winger looked to sprint away but Thommo tripped his man and accepted the resulting yellow card that came his way.
Hibs were starting to show their attacking intent and on 36 minutes Madjid Bougherra used his blistering speed to get back and deny Zemmama after he had skipped past David Weir and released a netbound shot.
From the resulting corner Paul Hanlon had acres of space and his downward header bounced off the turf before being cleared off the goalline by Papac.
At the other end Beasley rifled a corner kick in to the box and Weir was convinced he had been pulled down by Chris Hogg as he tried to win the ball but the ref waved away his pleas.
The first-half finished goalless but it also ended with Kris Boyd being booked after he tackled Zemmama but accidentally caught the Hibs man with his elbow.
Smith made one change at the interval with Kyle Lafferty going on and this proved an inspired move.
Straight away the big Northern Ireland star showed his desire with a powerful 30-yard drive down the throat of Hibs keeper Graeme Smith.
And he had a key role in Rangers’ first goal on 50 minutes and what a cracker it was.
The marauding Whittaker played a neat one-two with his towering teammate and the defender blasted home a powerful shot with his ‘weaker’ left foot which gave Smith no chance.
It was a moment of sheer class from Whittaker and he celebrated in style with the fans in the old East Enclosure.
With Rangers looking strong and determined Hughes made his first tactical change with Derek Riordan replacing Alan Gow on 67 minutes.
And immediately the visitors pushed forward with Zemmama bringing out a great save from Allan McGregor who clutched the ball at the second attempt.
This turned out to be a crucial stop as Rangers went straight up the park and were awarded a penalty.
Davis sprinted in to the last third and when he fed the ball through to Miller he was brought down by a clumsy challenge from Sol Bamba.
Boyd grabbed the ball as expected and he showed typical composure to blast his shot low to Smith’s right.
This was to be Boydy’s last bit of action in the game and after celebrating with his teammates he was immediately taken off and replaced by Novo.
Not surprisingly, the Gers no. 9 received high fives off the entire bench having effectively secured three vital points for his side.
But Rangers continued to push forward in search of a third and they almost got it on 75 minutes.
Davis pinged a delicious ball down the right and when Miller crossed Bamba was inches away from putting the ball in to his own net after a breakdown in communication with Graeme Smith.
It was now relentless from the home side and when Whittaker almost chipped Smith with a 20 yard lob his good mate Thomson could be seen laughing at his teammate’s confidence after netting his tenth goal of the campaign.
To be fair there can’t be many right-backs with Whittaker’s ability to score spectacular goals.
Kenny Miller added a bit of icing to the cake when he bagged his side’s third and it was no more than he deserved after an impressive shift.
With Hibs now camped in their own half a slip from substitute Kevin McBride allowed Thomson to break forward and when he passed it in to Kenny’s path his ice-cool from 15 yards sealed a truly memorable win for the Champions.