The key to last night's win was intention.

This could be found in the pre-match meetings and decisions Michael Beale made for this game and every other as Rangers manager and, of course, with the recipe he travelled back along the M8 with that’s earned 12 wins from 13 in the league and his team's best performance yet during a 4-1 win against Hibs last night.

To not adapt but impose and compose rather than compromise. Just like trips to Pittodrie, Tynecastle, Tannadice, the Tony Macaroni and Rugby Park, all venues that previously proved perilous on too many occasions, his side left Easter Road with three points. They’ve scored three or more goals in all but one of those fixtures.

“We need to get Ryan, Todd, Fashion and Antonio on the ball, get the full-backs high and take the game to them, it’s important we impose our style,” he said speaking to RangersTV before the game.

“Running, energy, pressing, moving together and then being decisive in the boxes. That’s where the game will be won and lost and we’re here to win.”

There was no obsession with winning battles or weathering storms, Rangers won this game by playing their way. Hard work and discipline off the ball was the foundation to attack relentlessly. 31 shots had been taken come full-time.

Admittedly, for the first seven minutes, Beale’s plan was on pause. Hibs got the crowd going and took the lead from a free-kick, but celebrations were quickly tempered. Seconds later Ryan Kent was down in the opposition penalty box following a Fashion Sakala through ball and a VAR check confirmed James Tavernier’s chance to put the visitors ahead from the spot.

Everything about this move that earned a free shot from 12 yards, and the game’s resulting chances, can be traced back to how Beale wants his Rangers to look on and off the ball. There was a thread of clear identity running through every dangerous transition.

The manager wants his team to defend with a view of how it also attacks. The high positioning of three narrow forwards, facilitated by the hard work of midfielders off the ball to shuttle and close down full-backs in a collective fashion, created moment after moment.

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“Away from home when teams come for us and open, Hibs tried to attack the game, if we’re defensively strong and we regain the ball in interesting areas we can punish teams, that was maybe the story of the game,” Beale summarised during his post-match press conference.

“Defensively, as impressive as we were with the ball it all came off the work ethic of the whole team, every outfield player pressing, running and moving together.

Chances, as Lee Johnson’s side tried to get close and press, were constant. Sakala seemed to run down the left side of the pitch continually, Kent should have done better with two opportunities and even Borna Barisic was getting in on the act.

Beale wasn’t bluffing when he said his side would “certainly welcome” the extra space if Hibs came out to attack when speaking earlier in the week.

In more settled moments, the Ibrox side operated with a fluidity and clearly defined structure that simultaneously made their runs untraceable to the opposition yet plottable to teammates. New options were always being offered and if moves broke down, possession was quickly reclaimed. Getting the ball to their difference makers and, therefore, forming the game in their image.

One of Sakala’s searching runs would eventually return rewards when a cross was turned home deftly by Colak. Just like on Saturday, and the weeks prior, having two goalscorers rather than one in the starting 11 made a difference.

There was no drop after the break, only a putting right of the first-half’s wrongs as a proper end product arrived. Rightly, Sakala’s wonderful turn and finish will be the focus of the third goal but again, the ball arrived at his feet in such space because of the "interesting area" the away side were able to reclaim possession beforehand. 

Sakala, for that matter, got his 11th goal involvement in 11 starts under Beale. The manager judged early that for the Zambian’s inconsistent output in some areas, he could provide all-important consistent numbers if handed the chance. Sakala's status is unrecognisable from the peripheral figure he cut in the season's early months.

It was he who set up Colak for the game’s fourth goal after a flowing, team-wide move, emphatically celebrated by the Rangers bench.

“They look like they enjoyed it tonight. If they enjoyed it, just keep doing it,” Beale added.

And from the high vantage point that Easter Road’s press box affords, as well as looking effective and dangerous, this group did genuinely seem to be having fun.

A full round of fixtures on from Beale’s first game back, there’s a conversation to be had about just how impressive his start has been. Rangers have not made a habit of winning domestically on a regular occasion, it’s by no means a given, certainly not away from home and certainly not with that style.

Yes, a gap remains at the top and yes, wider issues that have made this season a disappointment remain. However, in isolation, Beale is controlling what he can – the product and results on the pitch – and it’s beginning to appear very promising indeed.