Barry Ferguson was given the nod in the starting line-up ahead of Alex Rae, for his first game back at Ibrox and put in a solid display alongside skipper for the day Fernando Ricksen.
Hibs arrived at Ibrox sitting third in the SPL and desperate to continue the good form that took them to that position.
But they were well and truly beaten on the day by a hungry Rangers side.
Starting well is something Alex McLeish drums into his players before every game and Nacho Novo had the chance to make an immediate impact inside the opening 60 seconds when Dado Prso collected Vignal’s cross from the left.
The Croatian knocked the ball back into the area but remarkably Novo put his shot wide from eight yards.
Rangers continued to dominate and in the seventh minute Marvin Andrews headed home from Ricksen’s corner, however, his goal was disallowed for pushing.
Ricksen was the provider again five minutes later when he played Prso in behind the Hibs defence but his shot was well saved.
With such a prolific strike force on show this afternoon for Hibs, in the form of Gary O’Connor and Derek Riordan, the Rangers backline had to stay alert despite most the play taking place at the other end of the pitch.
Although always likely to spring into life at any time, it took until the 19th minute before O’Connor stretched his legs properly and the Light Blues had Alan Hutton to thank for keeping the scoreline level.
The bustling striker broke through on goal as Hibs counter attacked but Hutton stood up well to deny the striker with a last gasp tackle.
Following his goal in the CIS Cup Thomas Buffel’s clearly brimming with confidence and was a constant thorn in Hibs’ side.
In the 26th minute he played a neat one-two with Novo before threading a defence splitting pass to Prso but Stephen Glass saved his side by nipping in to concede a corner.
In the immediate aftermath Simon Brown then made two terrific saves to keep them in the game, firstly a one handed stop to deny Novo and then a diving block to keep Buffel’s drive out.
On the half hour mark Hibs sent Rangers another reminder they were still very much in this match when Dean Shiels crossed for O’Connor but Andrews tracked him all the way.
Alan Hutton was recalled to the side today after Mo Ross picked up a niggle but has already done more than enough to justify his selection.
In the 33rd minute he picked up the ball in the right back position and charged forward, unchallenged to unleash a fierce shot on goal, which Simon Brown spilled for a corner.
And it was from this set piece that the Light Blues eventually went ahead when Prso rose above everyone to head home from six yards.
Desperate to sink Hibs even further Rangers continued to push and within a minute Novo had a strong penalty claim turned down, before Prso had a shot rebound off the post.
Two minutes later Stephen Glass tripped Novo in the box and this time the referee did point to the spot.
The Spaniard’s last penalty – against Dundee United in the CIS Cup – was saved and unfortunately he suffered the same fate again today when Brown blocked his shot.
That was the last real moment of any note in the first half but after the break the Light Blues picked up right where they left off and it took only four minutes before they doubled their lead.
Buffel dispossessed Murphy on the right and after Novo helped the cross on to Prso, the former Monaco man picked his spot before unleashing a fierce low strike past Brown from the edge of the box.
In the 56th minute new goalie Ronald Waterreus made his first real contribution when he produced an excellent save to block O’Connor’s shot and only four minutes later Gers added another goal to their tally.
Novo and Prso liked well to play in Buffel down the left and the young Belgian showed great strength to hold off Whittaker and charge into the box to fire his shot low into the net.
Ten minutes later Prso was denied his hat-trick by another fine save from Brown and was given a standing ovation when replaced by Steven Thompson moments later.
RANGERS: Waterreus; Hutton, Andrews, Kyrgiakos, Ball; Buffel, Ricksen, Ferguson (Rae 83), Vignal; Novo (Arveladze70), Prso (Thompson 70)
SUBS: McGregor, Malcolm, Namouchi, Burke,
HIBS: S Brown; Whittaker, Caldwell, Smith, Murphy (Fletcher 79); I Murray, Shiels, Glass; Morrow (A Murray 54), Riordan (Konte 54), O’Connor
SUBS: A Brown, Orman, Beuzelin, McCluskey,
REFEREE: Craig Thompson
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Dado Prso