Rangers Suffer Fourth Straight Defeat Against Hibernian
The boos told their own story. On a night that was supposed to belong to James Tavernier, Rangers slipped to a fourth straight defeat, beaten 2-1 by Hibernian at an increasingly restless Ibrox.
Instead of a farewell celebration for their captain, the evening unravelled into another bleak chapter in a season that has fallen apart after the split.
Tavernier tribute overshadowed by chaos
The drama began before a ball was kicked.
Tavernier, informed by head coach Danny Röhl that he would not start what is expected to be his final home game for the club, withdrew from the squad. For a while it was thought he would not appear at all.
He did emerge, though, visibly emotional as club icon John Greig presented him with a memento to mark 11 years of service. It should have been a moment of uncomplicated appreciation. Instead, it felt like the prelude to a breakup played out in public.
By full-time, it was Röhl, not Tavernier, who stood in front of the fans, attempting to explain another defeat and promise a harder, more ruthless future.
Boyle stuns a flat Ibrox
The stadium was already patchy, the atmosphere subdued after three post-split losses had killed off any lingering title hopes. Hints of early purpose from Rangers quickly dissolved into something far more familiar.
Youssef Chermiti forced Raphael Sallinger into a sharp save with a header, a rare early roar rising from the stands. Then Hibs struck.
Jordan Obita found space on the left and whipped in a cross. Martin Boyle, unmarked and unhurried, met it with a thumping volley that crashed under Jack Butland from around 10 yards. A depleted Ibrox fell almost silent.
Rangers did at least respond with intent. Thelo Aasgaard drove at Hibs and forced Sallinger into another smart stop. Dujon Sterling blazed over. Chermiti saw a one-on-one blocked by the goalkeeper’s legs. Each miss tightened the knot of tension around the ground.
Sallinger stood between Rangers and a way back, springing to his right to claw away a Connor Barron drive from distance that looked destined for the top corner. Aasgaard curled just wide. Mikey Moore tested the Hibs keeper again. The pressure built. The breakthrough had to be special.
Aasgaard’s moment of quality
It was.
On the stroke of half-time, Aasgaard stood over a free-kick on the edge of the area and ripped it into the top corner with venom and precision. Sallinger, unbeatable from open play, didn’t move.
The goal dragged Rangers level and, briefly, dragged Ibrox back to life. It felt like a turning point. It wasn’t.
Chances wasted, punishment delivered
Rangers carried that momentum into the second half, but their finishing deserted them at the crucial moments.
Barron flashed an effort wide. Chermiti snatched at another opening. When Bojan Miovski seized on a loose ball in the box, the net seemed certain to bulge. Instead, the forward leaned back and sent his shot over the bar, a groan rolling around the stadium.
Hibs sensed the uncertainty and grew into the contest again. Ante Suto fired into the side-netting to serve a warning. Butland then had to rescue his side twice in quick succession, denying Dane Scarlett and Felix Passlack as green shirts flooded forward.
The warning went unheeded.
With the clock ticking into the final minute of normal time, Passlack broke free down the right. His low cross fizzed through the six-yard box and Scarlett, on loan from Tottenham, forced it over the line. It was scruffy, it was simple, and it was enough.
As Hibernian’s players celebrated in front of the away support, a chorus of boos cascaded from the home stands. A fourth consecutive defeat. Another late goal conceded. Another night of questions.
Röhl calls for a “strong cut”
Röhl walked towards the stands at full-time, not to applaud but to confront the anger head-on. He spoke of standards, of change, of a “strong cut” that now feels inevitable.
“We worked hard to come to a good point and the last four match days have not been good enough, it's not what we want,” he told Sky Sports. “Today was exactly the mirror from the last three weeks that showed me and us that we need a strong cut. We have to set new standards on and off the pitch… we cannot accept this in the future anymore.”
His frustration extended to Tavernier’s absence from the squad.
“I spoke with him because for me it is important that he gets a great goodbye, he deserved it after 11 years but I also have to make the decisions on the pitch. I am the manager,” Röhl said.
“I was really surprised that he stayed away today. I planned that he would get some minutes, not as a starter, but he deserved to be on the pitch at the end of the game and in the end he made his own decision.
“I will not respect this in this way, it is important that we have respect for each other and he makes his final decision and it is important that for me - I am the manager and I have to make my decisions on the pitch.”
The relationship between a long-serving captain and a new, uncompromising head coach now hangs in the balance, with Röhl adding: “Let's see what the next hours bring.”
Diverging paths
For Hibernian, this was a statement win. David Gray’s side weathered long spells of pressure, leaned on a superb display from Sallinger, and then finished with conviction. Beat Motherwell at Easter Road on the final day and fourth place is theirs, a tangible reward for their resilience.
Rangers head to Falkirk trying to avoid a fifth straight defeat, the mood brittle, the squad under scrutiny, the manager demanding a reset.
The season will end soon enough. The real question is how deep that “strong cut” will go when it does.
