Rangers Secure Narrow Victory Over Hibernian with Lawrence’s Sublime Strike

In a closely contested Scottish Premiership encounter on Sunday, Rangers edged past Hibernian with a 1-0 victory. A stunning strike from Tom Lawrence in the 34th minute proved decisive, allowing Rangers to stay within reach of league leaders Celtic.

Sunday’s match marked the first time Rangers played at Ibrox since the completion of renovations to the Copland Stand. Despite the narrow victory, the spotlight fell on goalkeeper Jack Butland, who made a crucial penalty save before halftime, denying Hibernian’s Mykola Kukharevych an equalizer.

The performance was in stark contrast to Rangers’ dominant 2-0 win against Malmo in the Europa League earlier in the week. Head coach Philippe Clement acknowledged his team’s lackluster display, attributing it to fatigue. “Players slept, if lucky, by 4am post the European trip,” Clement commented, citing the early afternoon kickoff as a contributing factor to the less energetic performance.

Lawrence’s goal came courtesy of a well-placed pass from Ross McCausland, with the initial offside call overturned by a VAR review. This goal marked Lawrence’s third of the season and was celebrated fervently by home supporters at Ibrox.

Rangers faced a moment of tension when VAR awarded Hibernian a penalty following John Souttar’s handball, but Butland’s heroics kept Rangers’ lead intact. Philippe Clement was seen talking at length with winger Vaclav Cerny, after replacing him with Dujon Sterling following a backward pass that drew the crowd’s frustration.

The second half was marked by missed opportunities, notably for Cyriel Dessers, whose header was parried by Hibernian’s keeper, Josef Bursik. Hibernian came close to equalizing when Dwight Gayle narrowly missed a header, adding to the late-game intensity.

Rangers’ defense, which has managed four clean sheets in a row, was key to maintaining the lead. Sky Sports analyst Kris Boyd noted, “Rangers huffed and puffed. They got themselves ahead through a fantastic strike, but the second half has to be a lot better.”

Hibernian’s head coach, David Gray, expressed disappointment despite the team’s robust challenge, stating, “The players put absolutely everything into that. The least we deserved was a point.”

Rangers now trail Celtic and Aberdeen by five points in the league table, looking to build on their string of victories while addressing the challenge of maintaining performance levels post-European fixtures.