With Celtic beating Livingston on Saturday it put more pressure on Rangers to keep the gap to three points against their rivals at the top of the Scottish Premiership as they made the trip to Easter Road to face high-flying Hibernian who sat in third spot coming into this game. This set up an intriguing battle in the capital with both teams being heralded for their tight-knit defences, Rangers have not conceded a league goal while Hibernian have not conceded a goal in open play this season.
However, there was a feeling that this would not be a low scoring game and it certainly lived up to that billing with both teams going for it from the off making it an open contest. The deadlock was broken in the 21st minute as Martin Boyle from the right wing provided cut back to Drey Wright who had drifted to the edge of the box to slot it to the net. Rangers responded just before the half time whistle through a brilliant close-range finish from Alfredo Morelos.
Rangers took the lead just 10 minutes into the second half as Arfield finished off a good move from the Gers and looked like they would push on but Hibernian upped their game and responded well as Boyle again was the provider for Christian Doidge whose header nestled in the net. An exciting game which ended 2-2 as the shares were spoiled.
This tactical analysis will provide a breakdown of this game focusing on the tactics of both teams and will explain how Rangers took control of the game but lacked the final ball to breach the deadlock. This was in part to the Hibernian back three who did well to absorb the pressure from Rangers before Jack Ross’s side found joy by going more direct in attack. This analysis will also look at how Rangers exploited a weakness in the Hibs defence and changed the point in which they attacked to ensure they got back in the game.
Lineups
Jack Ross decided to change his team shape as he moved from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 formation in order to curb the influence of Rangers full-backs. Although he altered the team shape he elected to keep continuity in the side as he made just one change to the side that beat St.Mirren 3-0 away last week. This change was forced upon Ross as Jamie Murphy made way as he was ineligible to play against his parent club, Rangers, so Drey Wright came into the starting lineup and played as part of the central three in midfield for Hibs.
Steven Gerrard set up his side in a 4-3-3 formation. The Rangers manager and former Liverpool captain made a host of changes making five in total to his side that won 5-0 midweek in Gibraltar against Lincoln Red Imps in the Europa League qualifying game. Jon McLaughlin was re-established to his goalkeeping position replacing Allan McGregor, Filip Helander came back to create his stellar partnership with Conor Goldson as George Edmundson made way.
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