Neil Lennon rages over what he saw in Rangers win v Hibs – ‘Atrocious’
Neil Lennon described Hibernian’s passing in the first half of their 3-3 draw with Rangers at Easter Road on Sunday as “atrocious”.
The Light Blues made a quick start to the Scottish Premiership game on 5 January, with Hamza Igamane scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes.
Addressing Hibs’ problems in the early parts of the game, former Celtic boss and pundit Lennon hit out of their passing and said that defenders Lewis Miller and Jack Iredale were not involved as much as they should have been.
“Hibs had a real problem”, Lennon said on Sky Sports Main Event Live (5 January, 12:54 pm).
“The two outside centre-halves were just on the outside of the game looking in really and once they started getting a grip of what Rangers were doing, they stepped in, Miller and Iredale on both sides, sort of condensed the space a little bit more, but, the first 25 minutes, Rangers were devastating.
“Hibs have got the grips on now and they’ve got a goal back, they’re back in it to a certain degree.
“But, they’ve got to pass the ball a lot better as well. Their passing in the first half was atrocious.”
Hibernian respond to Neil Lennon criticism v Rangers
Martin Boyle halved Hibernian’s deficit in the first half, but the hosts still had a lot of work to do in the second period.
It appeared that David Gray’s side heard what Lennon had to say about their passing as they started the second half on the front foot.
They reaped the rewards for their efforts as they won a penalty just before the one-hour mark after Ianis Hagi fouled Josh Campbell in the box.
Boyle made no mistake from the spot and brought the game back to square one.
However, Igamane completed his hat-trick to put Philippe Clement’s side back in front in the 74th minute.
It appeared Rangers would return to Glasgow with all three points until Rocky Bushiri stepped up as the unlikely hero for the Hibs.
The centre-back headed the ball into the back of the net from close range in the 83rd minute to pull level for the hosts, which meant that the teams ultimately shared the spoils on Sunday afternoon.
Rangers, thus, failed to build on their thumping 3-0 win against Celtic at Ibrox on Thursday, 2 January.
In other Rangers news, West Brom want to sign this Light Blues ace in a “bargain” January deal.
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