How Rangers' substitutes raised standards and why Kemar Roofe looks destined to provide Feyenoord echo

“It's a tough opponent and they are a good side,” the Gers boss noted post-match. “They are very well organised. To keep the zero here is massive.”

For as much as Rangers limited the threat of Hibs throughout, it took van Bronckhorst’s side a while to consistently work Matt Macey’s goal. As highlighted in the xG race chart below, Rangers barely laid a glove on Hibernian in the first half – Morelos header aside – before creating more openings after the interval in the lead up to the late penalty.

Hibs’ defensive game plan was evident from the off, naming an unchanged side from the League Cup semi-final. Martin Boyle and Kevin Nisbet would block off the passing options to the Rangers full backs when either Calvin Bassey or Connor Goldson were in possession, while Josh Campbell (playing behind the Hibs front two) would drop onto Steven Davis.

Hibs were able to limit Tavernier’s influence on Rangers’ build-up, with the Gers captain receiving just 38 passes on the evening. Only twice this season has Tavernier received fewer passes in a league fixture – away to Dundee and away to St. Mirren – and it was a marked drop-off from the 74 he received in the 3-1 win over Livingston last weekend. The Englishman played a critical role in both of Rangers’ opening two goals at the Tony Macaroni Arena and it was evident Hibs weren’t prepared to surrender the right flank in the same way Livingston did on Sunday.

There was one instance where Rangers were able to release Tavernier in the first half. Kevin Nisbet (circled) got too attracted to Goldson in order to pressurise any pass from Calvin Bassey into the Rangers central defender.

However, Josh Doig (Hibernian’s LWB) was pinned deep inside his own half by Ianis Hagi’s movement out to the flanks, which allowed Bassey to thread a pass into Tavernier and the Rangers captain was able to carry the ball the length of the pitch.

Tavernier ended the evening with just three progressive runs, which was, again, his lowest tally since the 2-1 win over St. Mirren last month. Moments such as the above were all too fleeting for Rangers, which contributed to a lack of penetration from open play. As a result, their best two opportunities of the first half both came in transition.

When van Bronckhorst named his starting lineup, it was a surprise to see Scott Arfield drop out. The midfielder netted in the win over Livingston and the idea, it seemed, was that Steven Davis’ inclusion instead would offer Rangers greater control – and thus defensive solidity – within the game.

However, more interesting was the selection of Ianis Hagi, who has now started all three games under the new Rangers boss. With a team selection which favoured greater control in a deeper area of the pitch, having just one player with pace in the attacking positions was a head-scratcher.

As a result, Rangers lacked a punch in the final third, typified by one of the side’s best chances in the first half arriving from Steven Davis (!) overlapping Hagi in the attacking third. Transitional moments arrived in abundance in the second half, but the absence of speed undermined Rangers.

The best of those opportunities arrived ten minutes into the second half. When Steven Davis strides forward with the ball, the Gers have a 5v3 overload haring towards the attacking third.

The spacing between Hibernian’s centre-backs is intelligent, preventing any threaded pass through the heart of their defensive line, but Rangers are very one-dimensional in their movements.

Kent is considerably the quickest player out of the four breaking ahead of Davis, but his running lane is cramped by Aribo and he eventually drops out of the counter-attack to provide support in the event Hibs stop it. Better communication – such as Kent instructing Aribo to drive inside and occupy Paul McGinn (circled) – could have led to a shot at Macey’s goal.

Aribo’s run is worth an even closer look, largely because it highlights the impact of having so few players in the forward line capable of operating at breakneck speed. There is a passing lane on the inside of McGinn, but the midfielder doesn’t boast the pace to get beyond the defender quickly. Davis becomes impatient and eventually tries to play a pass into his feet which goes astray.

Introducing more pace into the forward line – Fashion Jr. and Scott Wright were both left on the bench last night – should be a priority for van Bronckhorst. Playing with speed in the forward line can effectively make the ball carriers’ decisions for them given the attackers’ ability to tilt marginal or unthreatening situations in their favour.

These counter-attacking opportunities arose because of van Bronckhorst’s tweaks from the League Cup semi-final. In that fixture Rangers fell increasingly hostage to Hibs switching play out to their wing-backs to relieve pressure in central areas. In the example below, Rangers are able to exploit that.

As Nisbet receives under pressure from Tavernier, all of his immediate passing options are blocked. Rangers, in effect, are able to entrap him.

Knowing his right wing back (Paul McGinn) is usually the spare man, he tries to switch the ball to the opposite side of the pitch.

However, Ryan Kent has tucked inside to block the passing outlet to the opposite flank and he is quickly able to spring Rangers forward on the counter-attack.

In keeping with the theme of the second half, however, the attack merely leads to a chance with just an xG of 0.05. In fact, the winger had two shots on the evening with a total xG of just 0.08 xG.

Rangers’ shot map on the evening highlights their inability to turn attacking moments into quality chances. Their average shot distance of 17.52 was their highest since the 2-1 win at St. Johnstone in September.

With the team’s level on the pitch proving insufficient, van Bronckhorst turned to his substitutes bench with Scott Arfield and Kemar Roofe replacing Steven Davis and Alfredo Morelos. Despite arriving later than anticipated, it was a change that improved Rangers’ conviction in the final third.

With Aribo dropping back a line to play alongside Kamara, Arfield operated as the No.10. Instructed to play closer to Roofe, the pair combined expertly in the 81st minute from a direct pass from Allan McGregor.

As Roofe drops off the forward line to receive the ball, Arfield instantly begins his movement beyond the forward.

Roofe then cushions the ball with his chest into the path of Arfield and the midfielder is able to break into acres of space.

Whereas Aribo and Morelos combined for just seven passes in 66 minutes on the pitch as the No.10 and No.9 axis, Arfield and Roofe combined for four in just 23 minutes coming off the bench.

The winning goal – earned through Ryan Kent drawing a penalty – also arrived from Arfield’s influence.

As Rangers recover possession down the right-hand side and move it to Hagi on the touchline, Arfield begins his blindside run off of Joe Newell (circled).

Showing the conviction and directness which escaped the Rangers attackers for the previous 83 minutes, Arfield quickly shifts the ball to Kent who has moved onto the last line.

Kent is then able to shift the ball inside and draw the foul from Ryan Porteous. Even if he had not drawn contact, the location in which the winger would eventually pull the trigger from was considerably better than his previous two efforts from range, owing to the speed of Arfield’s pass in the lead-up.

At other end, Rangers were able to limit Hibernian to just 0.17 xG on four shots, which is their third-lowest xG conceded of the season (behind Livingston on the opening day and St. Mirren away).

The compactness of the back four limited the avenues in which the dangerous Martin Boyle could exploit – as he did down outside of Goldson in the League Cup semi-final – and the backline wasn’t afraid to retreat deep when required.

In fact, Goldson’s first-half yellow card arrived from Hibs exploiting the space created by Boyle’s threat on the last line, as evidenced below.

Porteous is able to float a pass into Nisbet, who has dropped into the space between the midfield and defensive lines of Rangers as the defence retreats to guard against Boyle’s pace.

Goldson is then forced to take evasive action after losing his duel with the forward.

However, he recovered to have an impressive display thereafter. Hibs were limited to just four attempts at goal, which is the joint second lowest in an away league fixture this season for Rangers.

Given the lack of quality chance creation on the night, few Rangers could have had qualms if points were dropped.

The introduction of Arfield and Roofe raised the performance levels of the team at a critical moment, but Rangers cannot continue to play with fire with team selections that are at odds with the nature of the team’s approach. The substitutions could have arrived earlier.

More pace and greater chaos must be added to the side’s attack for upcoming fixtures – Rangers visit Tynecastle after Dundee’s visit to Ibrox this weekend – and Roofe produced a cameo that was more reminiscent of Nicolai Jorgensen’s under van Bronckhorst in his title-winning Feyernoord side which could hint at a run in the team.

Kent continues to be a difference-maker, drawing the winning penalty, and the hope is that van Bronckhorst is able to supplement the former Liverpool man with greater speed elsewhere in the attack.