Rangers restarted their league campaign in ideal fashion with a comfortable 3-0 win over Hibs in Leith last night.

Goals from Ridvan Yilmaz, Todd Cantwell and Cyriel Dessers earned the points for Philippe Clement’s men who enjoyed control for the majority of exchanges. Jack Butland was forced into a couple of strong stops, notably from debutant Myziane Maolida just after the interval.

In partnership with StatsBomb, here are all the stats, graphs and key outcomes from the game.

Trendline, xG and stats

As the numbers show while Rangers were slightly fortunate to win by such a margin on the basis of chances created, they were the superior team.

As the below trendline depicts, charting the chance creation value as the game wore on, the away side enjoyed regular openings throughout the game. The game’s highest-value opportunity fell to Myziane just before the hour mark (0.31xG).

Team line-ups and positions  

The home side lined-up in their customary 4-4-2 shape with height and width on each side. Rangers also used a double pivot but their line-up was resembling a 4-2-3-1 with Nico Raskin pushing higher than John Lundstram and Todd Cantwell playing off of Fabio Silva.

The game’s pass networks, which chart average player passing positions, can offer more context. While Hibs played in a 4-2-4 shape on the ball, their possession was often deep as they sought to hit in transition. Notice the high and narrow position of Youan - it was this factor that allowed Ridvan Yilmaz to steal beyond and score the opener.

The visitors made a double change in midfield at the break hence Raskin and Cantwell’s smaller circles. Clement’s side were in their customary line-up with one midfield No.6 (John Lundstram) one No.8 (Raskin/Sterling) and a No.10 (Cantwell).

Shots and saves

Of Hibs’ 0.96xG, around a third came from set-pieces. It’s an area Rangers have shown some weakness since their Old Firm loss. An Elie Youan header on 37 minutes went close to nestling in at the far post. That aside, as shown, Myziane’s effort in the second half was the best clear-cut chance of the game.

As shown by StatsBomb’s freezframe, Butland was in the right spot. Myziane attempted to go to the keeper’s right but saw a low effort saved.

Rangers scored the opener following an excellent run by Ridvan Yilmaz. With a chance value of 0.19xG, the Turkish international found the near post emphatically. Cantwell then took out his frustration from range, scoring from a 0.04xG effort.

The 0.59PSxG, a metric which evaluates the likelihood of a goal once factors such as shot velocity and goalkeeper positioning have been considered, shows that while David Marshall could’ve been closer to his post, it was a high-quality effort.

Pressing and patterns  

Speaking after the game, Clement said: “Hibs is a team which is really good on the ball, with building and with technical qualities. The first step was to play a really good game without the ball and to work really hard. That is what the boys did.”

Rangers were able to trap their opponents on the ball regularly and punished them, finally, when Cyriel Dessers hit the back of the net to make it three.

As shown by their pressure map they generally tried to trap the home side down their left, where Matondo would regain the ball to assist Dessers’ strike.