Rangers booked their place in the Scottish Cup semi-final with goals from John Lundstram and Fabio Silva after a contentious evening against a Hibs side who finished this game with nine men.
‘Hibs, Hibs, are falling apart again,’ chanted the Rangers fans with glee as they relished the second-half chaos that engulfed the Leith side.
Two red cards in three mad second-half minutes for Jordan Obita – who earned a stupid dismissal after trying his luck while on a booking – and Nathan Moriah-Welsh gave Nick Montgomery’s side too big a mountain to climb as they searched for a goal to cancel out John Lundstrum’s opener which came midway through the opening period.
Hibs also lost talisman Martin Boyle in the late stages of the first period after the striker seemed to land awkwardly in a clash with John Souttar.
Lundstram’s goal came after David Marshall had saved a James Tavernier penalty with the midfielder quickest to react and force the ball into the back of the net.
It was a predictably frantic start to the game which set the tone for the evening.
Rangers’ early pressure forcing a couple of corners which, although they came to nothing, was an indicator of their menace in the final third.
Clement went with the same starting XI who left Lisbon on the back of a 2-2 draw with Benfica but those opening minutes suggested there was ample energy still in the legs.
Still, Hibs were able to find their feet in the game albeit that Nectarios Triantis found himself having to watch himself after he went into the book for a cynical tug on the shirt of Fabio Silva.
Jack Butland, such a reliable custodian for Rangers this term, almost gave Hibs a cheap opener when he was caught dithering on the ball as Myziane Maolida almost caught him out before the Ibrox keeper was able to scramble the ball off the post and out of play.
At the other end Cyriel Dessers turned Obita out before Marshall had to beat the ball away from his near post.
It was a portent of what was to come, however, with Obita caught out again just a minute later, this time as he clipped Dijon Sterling as the Rangers forward got away from him.
Referee Steven McLean immediately pointed to the spot, despite the furious protests of the Hibs players. Tavernier’s penalty was saved by Marshall but in the scramble that followed Lundstram forced the ball into the back of the net.
It seemed to take the wind out of Hibs’ sails. Marshall was forced to stand up to a Sterling effort as Rangers looked to double their lead.
Hibs’ afternoon got worse again when Martin Boyle had to be stretchered off five minutes before the break after clashing with John Souttar at the edge of the box. Butland had immediately shouted to paramedics to head onto the pitch with the Australian internationalist receiving extensive treatment before he was stretched off.
Butland had to push away an Emiliano Marcondes free-kick after the break but Hibs’ task was made all the tougher following Obita’s stupid dismissal.
Already on a booking, Obita had tried his luck when he tried to push the injured Ross McCausland and the Rangers physio off the pitch.
It was a stay of execution as he walked for raising his arm to Rabbi Matondo.
Next up was Moriah-Welsh who received a straight red-card for his foul on Lundstram which was judged to be serious foul play after he lunged into the midfielder with two feet off the ground.
To rub salt on the wounds, Silva added a second in front of the Rangers support to compound Hibs’ frustrations
