The disappointing result on Saturday clouds the nature of reactions to the performance. A poor first half was followed by a strong second half, and the mistake for the penalty was the only real chance Hibs created. Below are my opinions on the player ratings.
WES FODERINGHAM – 6
Foderingham will feel he could have done better with both goals he conceded. The penalty almost went through his legs, for example. He kept trying to play out from the back, and made a couple of decent saves first half. Despite the way Hibs played first half, this wasn’t a particularly busy day for the keeper.
JAMES TAVERNIER – 5
Tavernier made a great block early in the game to deny what looked like a certain goal. Unfortunately, he gifted that back with the concession of the penalty. That decision was a moment of madness and cost Rangers at least a point. His play going forward was somewhat nullified by McGinn being moved to the left by Hibs. A few good crosses aside, he wasn’t as involved as usual.
DAVID BATES – 6
In the first half, Bates was very good as Rangers were under pressure. The formation Hibs played put the centre halves in a difficult position, and he dealt with it well. One highlight was a ball that broke from midfield and looked sure to send MacLaren clear. Bates showed great reactions to get his body in front of the striker and allow Foderingham to clear.
Defensively, Bates didn’t have much to do in the second half. He did have a great chance from a Goss corner which he failed to meet strongly enough.
RUSSELL MARTIN – 6
Martin defended pretty well throughout the game. He won most of his headers and didn’t struggle with the pace Hibs had up front. The left hand side was exposed a lot in the first half, and he had to block a few crosses and shots. On the ball, he tried to get the play moving with balls into feet. He had a great shot blocked late in the game as Rangers chased the equaliser.
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DECLAN JOHN – 6
In the first half, John seemed to struggle. He was exposed a lot early on as it seemed that Murphy was asked to stay forward. John seemed to be unsure whether or not to get forward or stay deeper, and would be caught inbetween the two.
In the second half, he really turned this around. He drove from left back constantly, and was unlucky not to create more from his play. Had the penalty not been given away, he’d have got a lot more praise for the way he played second half.
JASON HOLT – 5
This was a game where Holt’s natural attacking mindset caused his own team problems. When Hibs had to change to the 3-4-1-2, Scott Allan was able to find a lot of space behind the midfield. This required either Holt or Goss to step back more often, and neither were doing so. Holt was full of energy and fight as always, but was caught out in this regard and also didn’t offer a lot when on the ball. Like every player, his second half performance was better than his first, but it wasn’t a great game for the captain.
SEAN GOSS – 6
Goss really struggled in the first half. He was being caught out defensively a lot, and rarely got his passing and vision into play. In the second half, he turned that around. His passing was key to the tempo Rangers played at, and his goal from the free kick was a good strike. He’s a player short of first team experience, and will have picked up a lot from this match.
DANIEL CANDEIAS – 6
Candeias got booked relatively early in the game and had a couple of fouls after that, so was on something of a tightrope. He did provide some good crosses, but they weren’t met by Rangers players too often. His movement and pass to Morelos in the first half was unlucky not to lead to a goal. Had a great header saved at the start of the second half, but was overall not at his best.
JOSH WINDASS – 5
It was a frustrating performance from Windass. The chance he missed in the first half was poor, but he had a couple of nice passes and helped create a good chance for Morelos. In the second half, he won the freekick which led to the Rangers goal, but he seemed to be on the edge of the game rather than heavily involved. He’s often the focus of fans when he doesn’t have a great game, and this was one of them.
JAMIE MURPHY – 7
Murphy was asked to stay high up the pitch in the first half, which led to John being exposed somewhat. When he realised this, he tracked back more and prevented many opportunities from being created by Hibs. On the ball, he was beating players quite well, but just lacked a little sharpness to get some good shots away. His missed chance in the first half was poor.
In the second half, he became Rangers main threat in an attacking sense. Put in some good crosses which led to chances, and won free kicks in dangerous areas.
ALFREDO MORELOS – 6
Morelos missed a good chance in the first half, but was doing well in terms of winning headers and trying to get Rangers up the pitch. In the second half, he didn’t get too many sights at goal, but his movement definitely caused issues. His disallowed goal was a little unlucky, and he should have been awarded more fouls than he was given.
JASON CUMMINGS AND GREG DOCHERTY – 3
Both players came on only 2 minutes before Rangers equalised. However, the concession of the penalty killed the performance of the entire team, and neither were given the platform to show what they could do.
Any ratings you disagree with? Tweet us @rangersnewsuk with your thoughts!