Rangers face a Hibernian side that isn’t the most consistency in terms of results but still has the players who can cause opposition defences problems.
Philippe Clement praised Nick Montgomery’s approach to the game in the pre-match build up with the Gers boss fully expecting a similar approach to the one that he saw at Ibrox in his first fixture as manager.
Half-time at Easter Road sees the score at 2-0 and Rangers will be hoping to put the foot down in the second-half and get all three points against a Hibernian side that will be a different entity in a few weeks time.
Rangers v Hibernian – half-time verdict, what does Clement do?
Hibs line-up was an attacking one from the get-go and, if Montgomery is patient, once the new signings settle in, they will start to climb the table.
Clement was right, there was never going to be a low-block at Easter Road and setting up with our most dynamic front five including Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell made sense.
A slow start saw Ross McCausland and Jack Butland called into action and the gaffer wouldn’t have been happy with how the first 15-20 minutes went.
Away games can be about the moments rather than about trying to control games in the same manner as we would at home.
And it was Rangers that have shown the clinical edge needed in this type of game.
First Ridvan Yilmaz, who has a good shout at being our best player over the last 4-5 games, showing why we paid £3.4m for his services and John Lundstram displaying the sort of passing that he isn’t known for on a week to week basis.
But it was Todd Cantwell who stole the first-half and changed the entire complexion of the game.
He can be guilty of overplaying it sometimes but, on this occasion, shortly after James Tavernier should have made it 2-0, he made no mistake from 20-yards with an absolute screamer.
The performance in the second-half needs to be better but if we continue to take our chances as well as we did in the first-half, then three points should be secured.
Patience and no mistakes the requirement when the game resumes.
