sport news Hibernian 1-4 Rangers: Michael Beale stays unbeaten as boss trends now

On nights such as these, Michael Beale’s unshakable belief in Rangers’ direction of travel under him stands up to all scrutiny.

Another tricky assignment on the road ticked off in quite devastating fashion, the Ibrox manager’s impact on the club over the duration of almost three months is now substantial.

Week by week in the Premiership, he’s clocking up wins and earning the trust of more of the doubters. Ensuring this short-term bounce equates to tangible success in the longer-term is now the task.

The manner in which his side came from behind to sweep away Hibs was hugely impressive. If this is indeed a taste of what’s to come from a recalibrated side further down the line then the optimism which Beale exuded earlier this week will be entirely justified.

Notwithstanding a poor start during which they fell behind to Connor Goldson’s own goal, his side were excellent here, the performance arguably the most complete of the 13 league games to date.

They never looked back once James Tavernier converted a VAR awarded penalty. Antonio Colak claimed a brace either side of fashion Sakala’s smart finish. Beale’s only minor gripe will be that his side only netted a fraction of the chances they created.

Hibs simply had no answer once the visitors got going. Lee Johnson’s men looked beaten long before a barrage of goals took the game away from them.

Their five-game unbeaten run allowed them to approach this with no little optimism yet they were second best all over the park for the vast majority of the evening. No complaints could be offered.

This game took the Rangers manager full cycle. Hibs had been his first opponent at Ibrox back on December 15.

A run of 14 wins and a draw in 16 matches since that night would normally be a source of envy but the mood music around the club of late has been decidedly downbeat, largely as a result of the display in the Viaplay Cup Final loss to Celtic. This sparkling display will assuredly change that.

Colak had spoken about the need for the visitors to rise above the chaos that’s so often been associated with this fixture and they did just that.

A highly-charged encounter at the best of times, last night’s game was brimming with emotion as the home club played in Leith for the first time since the passing of owner Ron Gordon.

Hibs had asked their supporters to come early to pay tribute to the man who’d taken control of the club nearly four years ago. They certainly did him proud, raising the roof as Sunshine on Leith echoed round the ground before kick-off.

Regrettably, Beale’s request for the tribute to be respected by visiting fans was largely ignored.

Hibs certainly made

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