On a cold night in the capital, Rangers gained at least a measure of revenge on Hampden conquerors Hibs. The late and dramatic nature of last night’s plot twist merely made it all the more enjoyable for those in the away end at Easter Road.
A penalty won by Ryan Kent with seven minutes of the 90 remaining, then calmly despatched by substitute Kemar Roofe once all the shouting had died down, eventually proved the difference in this meeting of keen rivals seemingly determined to annoy the life out of each other in every single encounter.
The fact that Ryan Porteous was the player who committed the foul at the decisive moment, just dangling out a leg to catch Kent as the winger sought to move the ball onto his right foot for a shot from 16 yards, would not have been lost on anyone in light blue.
Kemar Roofe's penalty with six minutes remaining secured an important victory for Rangers
The big centre-half had enjoyed an excellent game, leaving regular sparring partner Alfredo Morelos looking frustrated as he was replaced by Roofe after 65 minutes.
But sometimes the footballing gods just decree that it’s a player’s turn to suffer. This was his night, in all the wrong ways.
And so Rangers, without ever getting back the Premier Sports Cup final place wrested from their grasp by Jack Ross and his men at the national stadium, could end the night celebrating an important away victory for new gaffer Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
They weren’t brilliant. Certainly didn’t overpower their hosts with all-action football guaranteed to wow the critics.
But they left with three precious points. Regardless of how Celtic fare in the other Edinburgh-Glasgow clash on the cards this evening, they’ve done their part by putting the pressure on.
Even leaving that aside, the celebrations among the Rangers players - never mind the fans - revealed exactly how much they loved the experience of beating Hibs on their own patch.
The undoubtedly intense nature of this rivalry may not have always been borne out by results, with Rangers’ record on this particular ground barely hinting at the difficulties they’ve faced from time to time.
They hadn’t lost at Easter Road since a defeat here in season 2015-16, when both clubs were in the Championship.
Roofe held his nerve to score the winner from the penalty spot in the 84th minute
In terms of an actual top-flight reversal in Leith? Nineteen games, stretching all the way back to 2006, represented a pretty impressive unbeaten run.
As ever, of course, numbers don’t tell even a tenth of the story. No-one at Rangers would ever describe this as an easy away day. Whatever the final scoreline.
There was absolutely no reason for Ross to even tickle the Hampden plan that had worked so well against Rangers so recently.
With young Josh Campbell given the job of pestering Steven Davis and disrupting the veteran’s
