Hibs 3 Rangers 3
For the second time this season, Rocky Bushiri popped up with a dramatic late equaliser as both teams shared six goals and the points at Easter Road.
It was an incredible 90 minutes of football between Hibernian and Rangers - played in bitterly cold conditions - as the boys once again showed their character, spirit and resilience in droves.
Yet, it could’ve been a very different game had Rangers been allowed to build on their powerful start to the match after a brace from Hamza Igamane gave them a commanding 2-0 lead early on.
Hibs needed to dig deep to get back into the contest and did so through a Martin Boyle double either side of the break – the second of those coming from the penalty spot.
Lewis Miller then struck the post before Igamane restored Rangers lead and notched the first Scottish Premiership hat-trick since May 2023.
The Hibees weren’t done though as Rocky popped up with a crucial leveller seven minutes from time.
Both sides went for a late winner with Igamane hitting the post in the dying embers before Boyle fired narrowly wide at the other end.
David Gray made one change to the side that started against St Johnstone as Dwight Gayle replaced Junior Hoilett in the starting XI.
Unsurprisingly, Rangers went with an unchanged side following their dominant derby display against Celtic.
With their confidence flowing, the Ibrox side made a fast start and there were early warning signs for our defence when Miller twice had to block shots on the edge of our area in the opening seconds.
It was a blind pass from Miller that almost gifted the visitors the opener as Igamane looked to pounce on the mistake, only for Rocky to recover the situation.
Unfortunately, it only delayed the breakthrough by seconds as Ianis Hagi was afforded time and space on the left to pick out Igamane, who slammed a low finish beyond Jordan Smith.
The visitors were rampant in the opening exchanges with Vaclav Cerny and Nadim Bajrami both denied by Smith at his near post.
On 10 minutes, Hibs went close to an equaliser against the run of play when Nicky Cadden’s corner kick found Josh Campbell rising above Liam Kelly at the back post, however he was unable to keep his header down and it drifted wide.
It proved only a brief respite for our defence as Rangers were soon back on the attack and after we stood off Bajrami, his cross from the left was expertly guided past Smith by the unmarked Igamane for his second of the afternoon.
It was the Rangers striker’s 10th goal of the campaign, and he did well to get enough direction and power on his effort to get it beyond Smith, who got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.
After such an awful start, it was important that Hibs recovered quickly and set about reducing the deficit.
On 21 minutes, Boyle produced a clever turn in the Rangers box before his low cross was turned behind by Ridvan Yilmaz at the back post before Nicky Cadden could turn it in.
Moments later and Nectar Triantis had a header deflected just over from a Nicky Cadden corner kick as we began to make inroads towards the Rangers goal.
Rangers remained a potent threat throughout and we were reminded of that when Jefte threaded a ball through to Bajrami, who saw his low shot saved by Smith at his near post.
Mohamed Diamande then caught Nicky Cadden on the ankle with his studs and was possibly fortunate to remain on the park. The incident was checked by VAR who confirmed that no red card was called for.
Hibs pulled one back on 31 minutes when Nicky Cadden’s diagonal ball from a free-kick was nodded down by Miller and although Campbell’s initial shot was blocked, he was able to flick the rebound onto Rocky, who set-up Boyle for a neat finish into the far corner of the net.
The game was more even going into the break and the final chance of the first half saw Chris Cadden dink a cross into the front post that Campbell threw himself toward, only to head wide.
There were no changes during the interval as Rangers again started on the front foot with Igamane and Bajrami denied by Smith in the opening moments.
We would be awarded a penalty kick on the hour after Hagi bundled over Campbell inside the area and Boyle made no mistake from the spot, slamming the ball down the middle to restore parity.
The equaliser would see a momentum shift in the game as the home side piled forward in numbers time and again.
On 66 minutes, Liam Kelly came up with a big save to keep out a diving header from Dwight Gayle before the Rangers 'keeper had to beat away a vicious effort from Miller moments later.
Then, a Campbell cross was headed against the post by Miller with the rebound landing kindly into the arms of a grateful Kelly, as we went as close as we could to scoring without the ball crossing the line.
That was the signal for Rangers to make a triple change with Danilo, Cortes and King replacing Bajrami, Hagi and Sterling.
It paid immediate dividends as Cerny’s low cross from the right was drilled low past Smith by Igamane to complete his hat-trick against the run of play.
With seven minutes remaining, Hibs levelled again when Rocky rose highest inside a crowded penalty area to bullet a header from Nicky Cadden’s corner kick into the net.
Again, the Hibees threw caution to the wind and pushed for a winning goal with Nicky Cadden trying to catch out Kelly at his near post with a clever free-kick that the keeper did well to hold onto.
In the final minute of normal time we were almost caught out as a long ball forward was allowed to bounce by Rocky on halfway, Igamane nipped in to steal possession and race through on goal; with only Smith to beat, he slotted the ball past the goalkeeper only to strike the foot of the far post and it finished wide.
It as a huge let off for us but we immediately returned to attack with Boyle curling a shot just wide of goal in the third of four additional minutes.
In the end the points were shared after a breathless 90 minutes that warmed everyone on a bitterly cold afternoon in the capital.