Staff Reporter.
Alfredo Morelos struck the only goal as Rangers maintained their 23-point lead in the Premiership with victory over Hibernian at Easter Road.
The striker was perhaps fortunate not to have been sent off when his stamp on Ryan Porteous went undetected early in a low quality first half.
But he finished off a slick move as Steven Gerrard’s side dominated after the interval.
Morelos also missed an open goal as Hibs struggled to make an impression.
The home side were guilty of too many basic errors and failed to put the visitors under any sustained pressure, although Jackson Irvine did squander two good openings.
Hibs stay fourth but have now suffered five defeats in seven in all competitions.
Both sides found it difficult on a badly rutted pitch, with several players losing their footing under the floodlights.
Joe Aribo tested Ofir Marciano as Rangers threatened first, while Christian Doidge and Josh Doig hit efforts straight at Allan McGregor.
The Rangers goalkeeper was guilty of a rare mistake when he spilled a cross at his near post and Doidge did well to nip in and work the ball to Irvine, only for the Australian to blaze over the top.
During a scrappy first 45 minutes, Morelos was rarely seen as an attacking threat, marshalled well by Porteous and Darren McGregor, the veteran defender making his first league start in more than a year.
But the striker was at the heart of a controversial moment when he seemed to deliberately bring his foot down on the thigh of the grounded Porteous after referee Kevin Clancy had blown for a foul.
He would go on to torment Porteous further when the defender was too slow coming out and played Morelos onside as he finished off a slick Rangers attack on 51 minutes.
Hibs were on the rack at the time, with Gerrard’s side surging forward with real menace from the first kick after the re-start.
Morelos had a golden chance to kill the game off but a slight deflection on Glen Kamara’s cross and a bobble resulted in him shooting wide from five yards.
He was then played in behind the home defence by a clever Ryan Kent pass but could only send a lazy lob into the arms of Marciano, who had to look much livelier to push away a thunderous shot from Kent.
Hibs could not retain any meaningful possession, with forwards Doidge and Nisbet marginal figures, although Irvine should have done better when knocking just wide from a good Melker Hallberg corner.
The home side rallied in the closing minutes but the Rangers defence seldom looked in trouble as they earned an impressive 20th clean sheet from 26 league outings.
Meanwhile Celtic claimed their first win of 2021 to arrest a troubling winless slump by seeing off Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership.
Four games without victory offered a bleak precursor but Leigh Griffiths lit the path to victory with a sweet strike early on.
Odsonne Edouard then netted his 13th goal of the term just after the break.
Neil Lennon’s Celtic remain 23 points behind undefeated league leaders Rangers with three games in hand.
Hamilton, who failed to build on a bright start, remain anchored at the foot of the table, a point adrift of Ross County who they face next.
Source: BBC Sport.