Hibernian 0-3 Rangers: Clement ‘wants more’ as visitors ease to within five points of leaders Celtic

Philippe Clement wants “to see more and more” from his Rangers side after they eased to within five points of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic with a fifth straight victory over Hibernian.

And the Ibrox side were two up in first-half stoppage time when Todd Cantwell rocketed a fine strike from the edge of the area past goalkeeper David Marshall.

Although Hibs did threaten, with Elie Youan heading a glorious chance wide before debutant Myziane Maolida was denied by Jack Butland, they failed to find a moment to shift the game’s momentum.

Instead, Rangers netted a third to kill the contest, as Cyriel Dessers reversed in a clever finish just a minute after replacing Fabio Silva.

“It’s a well deserved victory and what I wanted to see,” Clement told BBC Scotland. “This is a difficult place to come to. It’s not easy against a team like Hibs.

“With the ball we did the right things and scored three good goals. We had total domination [in the second half]. It’s pleasing and what I want to see more and more.”

Dessers’ fellow substitute Tom Lawrence thought he had poked in a fourth late on, but the midfielder was denied by the tightest of offside calls.

Hibs, who are now without a league win over Rangers in 21 meetings, remain sixth having won just one of their last six Premiership matches, while Clement’s side have one more game in hand over leaders Celtic.

Player of the match – John Lundstram

Questions for Montgomery as Rangers cruise it – analysis

No Connor Goldson, no problem for Rangers.

The integral centre-back was suspended for the trip to Easter Road, which might have had some of the away support sweating as Nick Montgomery named another bold Hibs XI, but the visiting backline shut out the home side with a 13th clean sheet in 21 league games.

While Goldson was a noticeable omission, Silva was a noticeable inclusion.

The 21-year-old Wolves loanee, who diverted a decent chance wide in the first half, will need time to get up to full sharpness, but showed his quality on the ball in brief spells with neat composure.

Hibs eyes were on their Premiership debutant, but Maolida also looked rusty at times and ought to have burst the net when he struck straight at Butland from close range.

Emiliano Marcondes looked bright, though, and showed signs he can be an asset for Hibs going forward, but Montgomery still has plenty of fans to win over.

His side continue to struggle to control games for sustained periods with their bold 4-4-2 formation, one of a few reasons why many are still far from convinced.

What they said

Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery: “I don’t think it was a 3-0 game. It becomes a 3-0 game because we miss massive moments. If you don’t take your chances against a team like this, they’re going to punish you.

“In build-up we were very good, we got out quite easy, we created opportunities. We need to be more clinical. It’s a difficult period for the club and me as a manager, we’ve got nine or 10 first-team boys unavailable.”

Rangers manager Philippe Clement: “I hope after several victories the players keep on understanding where it’s coming from. It’s not falling out of the sky. It’s all about effort, a lot of solidarity and not having too big an ego.

“I expect some things [to happen in the transfer market]. Everyone is working really hard on that. There’s still one week to go, we’ll see what happens.”

What’s next?

Both sides are on the road on Saturday as Rangers go to St Mirren (12:30 GMT) before Hibs travel to Kilmarnock (15:00).