Hibs boss Nick Montgomery says his team flattered to deceive at Ibrox – and got what they deserved.
Despite causing Rangers problems on the counter attack and staying in the game at 2-1 down until the 85th minute – the Easter Road side left Glasgow with nothing. Rabbi Matondo’s late strike sealed the points for Philippe Clement’s men who went back to the top of the Premiership table. Montgomery was pleased with certain aspects of his team’s play but admits they weren’t ruthless enough – at both ends of the pitch.
Myziane Maolida levelled for Hibs in first-half injury time after James Tavernier’s opener for Gers. But they couldn’t hang on until the break, with Cyriel Dessers putting the home side in front again. A frustrated Montgomery said afterwards: “I thought in patches we played good football – but it wasn’t good enough today. Against quality opposition, you have to do the basics well.”Stop crosses, pick up in the box and block shots at the edge. We know Rangers have quality players and I’m disappointed that we got back into the game AND conceded in injury time.
“You just want to get in at half-time at 1-1 and give yourself a platform to build on. To concede in the manner we did with a basic error in the box – marking on the wrong side – is really disappointing because the team talk was different at half time.
“We had a couple of good opportunities down the left hand side with Myziane and Elie Youan and you have to punish them when you have those chances. But we lacked the final pass, that final decision-making.
“Their last goal is a good strike but we have to block that shot. I’m disappointed with the result because at times we kept the ball quite well.
“But you can feel my frustration because I felt we limited Rangers to crosses from wide. Tavernier’s goal comes from a cross but we didn’t clear it properly and he’s probably the last player you want it to land to – because he strikes the ball really well.”Hibs conceded a penalty in the first half, which Tavernier missed but Scott Wright converted the rebound. Rangers thought they had scored but the winger had edged just inside the box before the spot-kick so it was ruled out.
And Montgomery says they deserved their bit of fortune after Nectarios Triantis’ challenge on John Souttar in the box. He said: “You better not ask me about the penalty. I’m disappointed to concede it but I’ve said that too often so everyone else can give their opinion on it.
“It was another good save from Marsh which isn’t easy against Tavernier and thankfully there was a foot in the box so it was disallowed. That was a bit of justice for us. You need a bit of luck when you come here because they’re a quality team, probably the best in the league right now.
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