Hamza Igamane’s hat-trick was not enough to secure victory for Rangers as Rocky Bushiri’s late header earned a dramatic 3-3 draw for in-form Hibernian. Gers looked on course to follow up their 3-0 demolition of Glasgow rivals Celtic on Thursday when Igamane put them 2-0 up early on.
But Hibs – who had lost just one of their previous eight matches – regained their composure after a fraught start and got themselves level with a double from Martin Boyle. Igamane restored Gers’ lead at a time when the hosts seemed to be in the ascendancy before Bushiri popped up with an 83rd minute equaliser to make it six unbeaten for David Gray’s side.
Despite the euphoria of their Old Firm success at Ibrox, Rangers have now dropped points in each of their last three away matches, blowing the chance to put genuine pressure on their city rivals at the top of the Premiership.
“It’s a frustrating afternoon to lose three points in different ways,” said the Rangers manager, Philippe Clement. “First, we played a really good first half, finding the spaces that we wanted to find, good chances, good goals, defensively solid. Second half, it became more of a game, Hibs came more into the game … It’s a disappointing afternoon to lose two points, because there were a lot of positives of the team also. But at the end, you will remember the results, and that’s not good enough.”
Quick GuideScottish Premiership roundup: Celtic extend lead at top
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Celtic extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 13 points with a routine 3-0 home win over St Mirren. Brendan Rodgers’ side bounced back from Thursday’s defeat to Rangers by the same scoreline after their Old Firm rivals had been held to a 3-3 draw at Hibernian.
German winger Nicolas Kühn (pictured) swept in the opener in the 33rd minute, Auston Trusty doubled the lead just before the interval and Kühn grabbed his second of the game and 16th this season midway through the second half.
Aberdeen‘s dismal winless run was extended to 10 matches after they slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Motherwell. Jimmy Thelin’s men fell behind to Ewan Wilson’s first professional goal before suffering a costly 60 seconds just before the interval. Slobodan Rubezic was sent off after a clash with Tony Watt and straight from the restart Tawanda Maswanhise drilled home to double Motherwell’s advantage.
James Penrice’s 73rd-minute goal gave Hearts a 1-0 win at Dundee United as the visitors won back-to-back league games for the first time this season.
The win also took Hearts eight points clear of bottom side St Johnstone, who suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to Dundee.
Simon Murray, Seb Palmer-Houlden and Lyall Cameron all found the target for the visitors inside the first 22 minutes, with Josh McPake pulling a goal back midway through the second half.
George Harmon’s late goal gave Ross County a 1-0 win at Kilmarnock, the third away win in a row for Don Cowie’s side. PA Media
Hibs made a nervy start and were punished for their slackness in the fourth minute when Igamane slotted home Ianis Hagi’s well-weighted cut-back from the left after Bushiri had got himself in a tangle while trying to deal with a ball in behind. Bushiri made a better fist of dealing with Rangers’ next opportunity when he stood firm to deflect Nedim Bajrami’s effort behind after the Albanian cut in menacingly from the left.
The hosts were struggling to contain the visitors early on and Kwon Hyeok-kyu did just enough to divert Igamane’s shot behind after Mohamed Diomande teed up the Moroccan just outside the six-yard box. Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny had powerful angled efforts pushed out for corners by Jordan Smith in quick succession before the Ibrox side’s pressure brought a second goal in the 19th minute. Bajrami’s cross from the left picked out the unmarked Igamane and the striker’s header from seven yards out soared beyond Smith, who got a hand to the effort but was unable to keep it out.
At that point, it looked like Rangers were set to cruise to victory as Hibs – in a state of mild disarray – seemed unable to get a foothold. But the hosts pulled one back in the 32nd minute when Jack Iredale’s free-kick into the box was helped into the danger area by Lewis Miller and Josh Campbell, and Bushiri cleverly laid the ball off into the path of Boyle, who drilled home a low strike from 12 yards out.
Remarkably, the scores were level on the hour when Campbell was fouled by Hagi as he tried to burst on to a Dwight Gayle pass, and Boyle made no mistake. Hibs suddenly had their tails up and looked the likelier side to take the lead, with Miller seeing a ferocious shot pushed out by Liam Kelly before the Australian defender headed against the inside of the post shortly afterwards.
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Clement made a triple change in the 70th minute as Hagi, Bajrami and the injured Dujon Sterling were replaced by Danilo, Óscar Cortés and Leon King. Four minutes later, the visitors got themselves back in front when Igamane fired home from Cerny’s cut-back. However, Bushiri – as he had done when scoring a last-gasp equaliser in a 3-3 draw at home to Aberdeen in November – had the final say as he headed home Nicky Cadden’s corner.
Gray was delighted with the resolve Hibs showed to overcome their chastening start and claim a point. “A great game for the neutral, not so much for a coach,” he said. “But massive credit to the players for the second-half performance, and for hanging in there in the first half because Rangers started miles better. I thought from our second-half performance, we got at least what we deserved from the game.”
