Rangers 4-0 Hibernian: Philippe Clement in winning debut to end Montgomery’s unbeaten run
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Philippe Clement led Rangers to a convincing win in his debut as manager
Philippe Clement’s reign as Rangers manager got off to a perfect start with a comfortable Scottish Premiership victory that ends Nick Montgomery’s unbeaten run in charge of Hibernian.
Two thunderous Abdallah Sima finishes either side of a fine strike from Nicolas Raskin sent the Ibrox side on their way to a win that lifts them to within four points of leaders Celtic..
Cyriel Dessers calmly slotted the late fourth as Hibs meekly surrendered a six-game unbeaten run, five under Montgomery, to remain in ninth spot.
Inflicting a ninth consecutive defeat on Hibs at Ibrox was aided and abetted by some slapstick defending.
As you might expect from a side looking to impress their new manager, Rangers started brightly.
There were still signs of the fragility they displayed under Michael Beale as Hibs’ Dylan Vente forced the first save and Lewis Miller’s long throw caused panic in the home penalty box.
Clement suffered a blow when Croatia left-back Borna Barisic was forced off after only 10 minutes and it looked like old habits remained when restored striker Dessers volleyed wastefully at goalkeeper David Marshall.
However, home nerves were settled moments later when fleet-footed Sima burst clear through a clutch of Hibs players and drilled a low shot into Marshall’s far corner.
Hibs somehow survived a goalmouth melee when Jordan Obita cleared off his own line from Scott Wright, Sima fired wide and, after a VAR check, it was decided that a shot in between had struck Joe Newell’s hand off his knee and therefore no penalty.
The second eventually came when Raskin fired low past Marshall from 25 yards for the first goal of his Rangers career, with VAR ruling that Newell had not been fouled in the build-up.
Sam Lammers’ strike woes in front of goal continued when the attacking midfielder fired against the post, but after Dessers had two shots blocked in front of goal, Sima showed him the way to goal.
Dessers finally got his name of the scoresheet after being sent through by substitute Todd Cantwell before Ibrox rose to laud a clinical winning start to the Clement era.
Player of the match – Abdallah Sima (Rangers)
Abdallah Sima was the one big success story of Rangers’ summer spending spree and the on-loan Brighton forward continued to impress under his new manager with a clinical doubleClement sows seeds; Montgomery back to drawing board – analysis
Clement said before kick-off he was “curious to see how fast the little seeds that we planted this week will grow”.
Only time will tell whether this emphatic victory was down to the famed new manager bounce, Hibs’ inadequacies or the fact that, despite his protestations, he indeed is Harry Potter with a magic wand.
His first starting line-up gave little hint of what differences the Belgian might bring given his three changes were forced by injuries.
There were suggestions his players had responded to Clement’s call for extra aggression and willingness to play the ball forward early.
However, there remained question marks at the back, there was a lack of fluency at times and the likes of Lammers, Wright and Dessers, his goal apart, continue to look shot of confidence.
Like his Rangers counterpart, Montgomery had shown plenty of attacking intent with his formation.
Hibs’ unbeaten run had looked fragile given they were outplayed last time out in the Edinburgh derby away to Hearts and their Ibrox game-plan proved to be over-ambitious.
It was an unhappy 550th Hibs appearance for Paul Hanlon as the centre-half was restored to the starting line-up, but he was not the only one to find himself all at sea as the visitors consistently gave up possession too easily. Montgomery will need a new battle plan the next time he visits Ibrox.
What’s next?
Rangers visit Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday (17:45 BST) before hosting Hearts in the league next Sunday (15:00), 24 hours after Hibs entertain Celtic.
Line-upsRangers
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Butland
2Tavernier6Goldson5Souttar31Barisic
4Lundstram43Raskin
23Wright14Lammers19Sima
9Dessers
Substitutes
Hibernian
Formation 4-4-2
1Marshall
2Miller5Fish4Hanlon21Obita
10Boyle14Jeggo11Newell7Youan
9Vente19Le Fondre
Substitutes
Referee:Don Robertson
Attendance:49,535
Live Text
Match ends, Rangers 4, Hibernian 0.
Second Half ends, Rangers 4, Hibernian 0.
Foul by Ross McCausland (Rangers).
Jair Tavares (Hibernian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Abdallah Sima (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Todd Cantwell.
Foul by Abdallah Sima (Rangers).
Élie Youan (Hibernian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Danilo (Rangers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Nicolas Raskin.
Attempt blocked. Abdallah Sima (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by John Lundstram.
Corner, Hibernian. Conceded by Connor Goldson.
Substitution, Rangers. Ross McCausland replaces Sam Lammers.
Substitution, Rangers. Danilo replaces Cyriel Dessers.
Goal! Rangers 4, Hibernian 0. Cyriel Dessers (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Todd Cantwell.
Attempt missed. Élie Youan (Hibernian) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jair Tavares.
Joe Newell (Hibernian) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Todd Cantwell (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Joe Newell (Hibernian).
Attempt blocked. Jair Tavares (Hibernian) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Élie Youan.
John Souttar (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Christian Doidge (Hibernian).
Player of the match
SimaAbdallah Sima
Rangers
Squad number19Player nameSima
Squad number13Player nameCantwell
Squad number45Player nameMcCausland
Squad number1Player nameButland
Squad number43Player nameRaskin
Squad number99Player nameDanilo
Squad number5Player nameSouttar
Squad number3Player nameYilmaz
Squad number6Player nameGoldson
Squad number2Player nameTavernier
Squad number23Player nameWright
Squad number4Player nameLundstram
Squad number9Player nameDessers
Squad number14Player nameLammers
Squad number31Player nameBarisic
Hibernian
Squad number5Player nameFish
Squad number10Player nameBoyle
Squad number2Player nameMiller
Squad number11Player nameNewell
Squad number9Player nameVente
Squad number19Player nameLe Fondre
Squad number7Player nameYouan
Squad number14Player nameJeggo
Squad number21Player nameObita
Squad number4Player nameHanlon
Squad number1Player nameMarshall
Squad number49Player nameWhittaker
Squad number6Player nameLevitt
Squad number23Player nameDoidge
Squad number33Player nameBushiri
Squad number29Player nameJair Tavares