Hibs debrief: The fatal flaw in Hibs' gameplan, the late formation switch, moments you may have missed

A look back at last night’s match as Hibs lost easily to Rangers despite taking an early lead.

Player of the match

Urgh, not much to pick from here. Will Fish actually played quite well despite being part of a back four that lost four goals and was pulled all over the place, though he was turned inside and out himself by Fashion Sakala for the third goal. CJ Egan-Riley didn’t do too bad in trying circumstances, though, again he had a significant error in giving away the penalty which saw Rangers equaliser. So let’s go for Lewis Stevenson. He showed real energy and enthusiasm getting up and down the park while the game was still in the balance and the opposition didn’t threaten down his side anywhere near as much as the opposing flank.

Defining moment

Antonio Colak celebrates putting Rangers 2-1 up in their victory over Hibs on Wednesday evening. Picture: SNS

It was conceding four minutes after taking the lead, though you could rewind it back two minutes. Chris Cadden charging out, giving away possession and then seeing Rangers attack the great big hole in the Hibs defence ended up being a familiar sight for the rest of the contest.

Ref watch

Don Robertson originally didn’t think there was a case to answer for when Ryan Kent went down under the challenge of Egan-Riley but changed his mind after consulting the VAR screen.

Benefit of hindsight

On the one hand there’s trusting a system and a group of players to dig themselves out of a hole. On the other hand, there’s failing to recognise a fatal flaw in the gameplan which needs fixed. Rangers absolutely destroyed Hibs down the left flank and it should have been changed before the double substitution and the formation switch to a back three – with Egan Riley filling in at centre-back – before the fourth goal went in.

Moment you may have missed

Hibs players screaming at each other for mistakes was a common theme throughout this one. Matthew Hoppe got it from a couple of his team-mates, Elie Youan and Stevenson, for giving away needless fouls while Rangers defenders were under pressure near their own corner flag. But that wasn’t anything compared to the roasting Cadden got from Paul Hanlon after goals two (understandable) and three (less so) as the Hibs defence seemed at odds with the gameplan.

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