Rangers 1 – 0 Hibernian

Rangers moved into third place in the Scottish Premiership with a 1-0 win over Hibernian although Danny Röhl’s side provided little inspiration for most of the night at Ibrox.

The Gers fans had begun to grumble about their disjointed side when defender Emmanuel Fernandez netted with a header in the 34th minute for his third goal in 10 appearances and it proved enough to secure all three points.

Rangers were all but knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night with a 2-1 away defeat to Ferencvaros, which left them with one point from 18 in Europe.

However, Röhl has found domestic duties less demanding since taking over from Russell Martin and now has six wins and two draws in eight fixtures without finding top form.

Nevertheless, Rangers moved to within nine points of leaders Hearts – whom they face at Tynecastle on Sunday, live on Sky Sports – with a game in hand.

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Both sides had early chances.

After Hibs attacker Elie Youan drove a shot over the crossbar, Rangers’ much-maligned Youssef Chermiti, back in the side along with Mikey Moore, Findlay Curtis, Mohamed Diomande and Dujon Sterling, drew a save from goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger with an angled drive.

Gers defender Nasser Djiga headed Connor Barron’s resultant corner wide.

The visitors, who looked physically stronger all over the pitch, settled into the game with growing confidence.

Rangers could not find any rhythm or fluidity and fans grew increasingly anxious, which in turn affected the players.

Hibs striker Kieron Bowie fired a long-distance drive just over the crossbar and in the 29th-minute, fit-again Sterling – who was starting for the first time this season – cleared a Warren O’Hora header from a corner off the line.

However, it was Rangers who took the lead after a brief spell of pressure soon afterwards, Fernandez glancing in a header from a Sterling cross which caught out the Leith defence.

There was a VAR check for a Hibernian penalty in the 42nd minute for a Sterling handball from a Bowie shot, but there was an offside in the build-up.

Moore began to influence more at the start of the second half but still Rangers struggled to create.

Youan’s effort from 30 yards was gathered by home goalkeeper Jack Butland, who, like his Hibs counterpart, was seeing little real action.

The visitors were moving forward with relative ease but could not penetrate the Govan side’s unconvincing rearguard, which kept testing the nerve of the home support.

In the 78th minute, Gers substitute Djeidi Gassama raced through to beat Sallinger but was ruled offside, with VAR confirming the decision.

Chermiti fired a shot straight at Sallinger with three minutes remaining, with the Hibernian stopper denying Gassama before the end.

It was another positive result for Rangers but performance levels will surely have to rise in weeks and months to come.

Rohl hails determination over style

Danny Röhl acknowledged determination over style following Rangers’ narrow win over Hibernian.

The Ibrox head coach said: “I’m very proud of the group, the outcome is about results and I’m still not happy with them every time, but I see at the moment a group who is running for each other, who speak to each other, block shots.

“Sometimes we make mistakes, but the basics are right at the moment and if you do the basics right, then I feel we have quality in areas to win games.

“From the last eight games, six wins, it’s not because we play tiki-taka, it’s about effort, effort, effort.

“We know it was not the nicest game in some parts.

“I think also in the first half, between 10 to 25 minutes, we lost a little bit of control, but always when we’re attacking forward, when we play forward, then you feel we can really hurt opponents, this is what we have to do more.

“But when I look at the moment how many players we have not available and I see then that we’re running 95 minutes and put everything on, for me it was a fully deserved win, even at some moments, but all in all it was great.

“I wish in the future that we use the open spaces from the opponent to kill them. This is also crucial because then I can relax a bit more on the touchline.”

Hibs head coach David Gray was left frustrated by the defeat, saying: I asked the players to be brave, be aggressive, get after Rangers and go toe-to-toe and I thought they did.

“I thought they won the ball back well, in good areas and had a lot of control in the first half.

“But the bit that let us down all night probably, which has been really unlike us, is the final third.

“For all the control I felt we had, considering this was a difficult venue to come to, their ‘keeper didn’t really have a save to make, so it wasn’t as if we had chance after chance and that was down to a lack of decision-making sometimes and a lack of quality.”