Wright stuff, vintage Porteous, marvellous Marciano - 3 talking points from Hibs' draw with Rangers

Patrick McPartlin picks out three observations from Hibs’ draw with Rangers

Drey Wright celebrates his goal with Kevin Nisbet

Much of the pre-match conversation before this encounter centred on Rangers’ run of consecutive clean sheets, and Hibs’ run of not conceding from open play. Both records were smashed in some style at Easter Road on Sunday afternoon, but there were plenty of talking points besides records being broken as the two teams played out a rollercoaster 2-2 encounter in Leith.

The Wright stuff

Drey Wright was brought to Easter Road ostensibly as a winger but against Rangers he was deployed as a No.10 behind the front pairing of Christian Doidge and Kevin Nisbet. The former St Johnstone man thrived in a more central role and buzzed about in the final third before being replaced late on by Melker Hallberg.

His run to get on the end of Martin Boyle’s cutback for the opener was perfectly timed and again illustrates the versatility Jack Ross has within his squad.

There is scope for Wright to continue in that role while Scott Allan remains on the sidelines as he brings drive and creativity to the position and now that he is off the mark for his new club, a potential goal threat. Given that it has been more than 700 days since his last strike, getting on the scoresheet in such an important match will have been a huge boost for the 25-year-old.

On top of that, if Hibs are to enjoy a successful season and a lofty league placing come the end of the campaign, they will need goals from across the pitch. Wright is the sixth different goalscorer in eight games for the Capital club, and if the team can maintain the performance levels shown against St Mirren and Rangers, it surely won’t be long before others are joining them.

Vintage Porteous

Last time Rangers came to town, Ryan Porteous lasted just 60 minutes after he was sent off for a foul on Gers left-back Borna Barisic. The spotlight was understandably angled towards the young defender ahead of Sunday's encounter but the Scotland Under-21 internationalist answered his critics with an assured performance – even after he was cautioned for an off-the-ball tussle with Alfredo Morelos.

An ever-present so far this season, the 21-year-old has shown a maturity both in a footballing and emotional sense compared to last season. Gone are the rash challenges and the sometimes reckless play to be replaced by a calmer, more measured approach.

Hibs are benefiting from it, the defence is clearly benefiting from it, and Porteous is benefiting from it.

Fair play to the coaching staff and, in all likelihood, his defensive colleagues for helping to tweak his attitude. If he can maintain his level-headed approach throughout this season it will play a big part in the Capital club building on the promising seeds sown last season – and help exorcise the ghosts of poor defending.

Marvellous Marciano

The Israeli internationalist might have finally been beaten from open play for the first (and second) time this season but even conceding twice didn't detract from a fine performance from the Hibs No.1. While it's true the Easter Road defence has been shored up since last season, when Rangers did breach the backline, they found Marciano in inspired form.

He wasn't particularly busy in the first period but when Rangers ramped up the pressure in the second half he was equal to everything thrown at him. He stood up well to deny Ryan Kent with a fine one-handed stop, and pulled off a stunning double-save from Arfield to prevent the visitors from increasing their lead.

Minutes later Hibs equalised, and it's not unthinkable that the whole team will have had a lift from Marciano’s heroics.

Much has been made of the ‘keeper returning fitter and leaner from lockdown and it certainly seems to be benefiting Hibs – the only concern for the Easter Road club might be fending off interest from other clubs if the shot-stopper maintains this level of performance in the last year of his contract.