“Absolutely beasted it”, “Flat footed” – Rangers player ratings v Hibs

After an astonishing night of profligacy at Easter Road, Rangers had to make do with a point. Ibrox Noise takes you through our rates of the best and the worst in Edinburgh.

Allan McGregor:

Had nothing really to do. A few dives for misses and a bit of kicking, but overall a quiet and undemanding night for McGregor. 7

James Tavernier:

Good going forward on the ground, his chronic miss aside, but defending was frequently hopeless and was caught flat footed one more than one occasion. Also lacked many crosses albeit some dead ball delivery was good. 6

Gareth McAuley:

This was the match the NI international came to life – didn’t put a foot wrong, strolled it against in-form strikers and just looked every inch the alpha defender Rangers need. Colossal in the air, and experienced and canny on the deck. Superb, miss aside. We hope his injury is not serious. 10

Connor Goldson:

Absolutely thriving on McAuley next to him, Goldson is regaining his old form and starting to look much more assured again. Looks like he needs the guidance because his reading has got better the past two matches and he seems more physical too. Much better. 9

Borna Barisic:

Just getting better every match – defending didn’t need to be a huge part of his game tonight but what he did there he did well, and going forward his delivery is becoming a missile. What a left peg this boy has. 8

Ryan Jack:

Composed and dominant, Jack did his purposeful work quietly, and absolutely beasted it in midfield. Several shot-saving tackles showed him at his best, and he looks in this form back to his peak of earlier in the season. 9

Lassana Coulibaly:

We’ll give him his dues, this was better from him – seems to be drifting away from being a destroyer and becoming a marauder now. A physical unit who does better work in advanced midfield. Quiet first half but came more to life in the second. A much-improved display from Coulibaly. 7

Scott Arfield:

Other than one or two misplaced passes, Arfield was perfectly cast as the link between midfield and attack, and did an excellent job supporting both. A bit wasteful in shooting, Arfield was otherwise a reliable lynchpin and, again, we hope his injury is not serious. 8

Eros Grezda:

A good match we felt from Grezda – again, couldn’t take his chances, but worked like a dog in defence and attack, and is looking more and more the part with every match he gets. 7

Daniel Candeias:

A pitiful first half with a number of diabolical attempts at passes, and anonymous, but much more involved in the second half – but definitely seems to have lost something on the crossing. They’re just not doing much damage these days, and often, neither is he. Did, however, save Joe Worrall’s blushes and prevented a surefire one on one. 6

Alfredo Morelos:

Did everything but score. Guilty of a bit of selfishness occasionally but tore Hibs’ backline to shreds. Ambrose will not relish the return match in a week. Should have scored, of course, but torrential otherwise. Did a wonderful job of not biting any of Hibs’ bait. 9

Subs:

Ross McCrorie:

Rangers were no weaker for his introduction and that says a lot for how reliable he was. A fine second half display from the Auchenhowie graduate. 7

Joe Worrall:

One absolute howler of a passback where Candeias spared his blushes, but otherwise actually a very good display from the Forest loanee and nothing got past him. No Gareth McAuley but a good shift. 7

Glenn Middleton:

Had no time and made no impact. N/A

Manager:

Steven Gerrard set his team up exactly how we suggested, albeit with Coulibaly in McCrorie’s place, and the match played out exactly as we predicted – the one difference was Hibs’ total lack of clinical finishing by contrast to their sharper work against Celtic. A lot of credit goes to how Gerrard set up his back six, again, as we said, by going 4-2-3-1 and reverting to 4-5-1 when out of possession. In short, he got this match right and put simply he was let down by his players who could not convert. The blame on this one has to be the men on the pitch for not taking their chances. 9