Gers still in title hunt

Steven Whittaker's early opener was cancelled out by Steven Fletcher but goals from Andrius Velicka and Maurice Edu sealed a crucial win for the Ibrox side after John Rankin netted late on for the home side.

The pressure was on Rangers after Celtic had moved four points clear with a win over Aberdeen the previous day but Walter Smith's men responded positively to remain within touching distance of the champions.

The visitors enjoyed the best possible start to the game when they surged into the lead in style after just two minutes when the ball broke fortuitously for Whittaker just outside the box and he left goalkeeper Grzegorz Szamotulski with no chance with a superb looping volley.

Hibs could have restored parity quickly when Colin Nish teed up a shot for Derek Riordan but his effort flashed just wide of the post, before Fletcher nodded over from close range.

But Hibs did level after 34 minutes. Lewis Stevenson found Fletcher in plenty of space with a cross from the left and the striker powered a header past Neil Alexander into the bottom corner of the net.

Rangers looked as though they were ready to make a change up front and throw Kenny Miller into the action when Velicka restored their lead early in the second half.

Whittaker turned provider with a long ball down the right and the Lithuanian gratefully collected before lashing home an angled drive with 53 minutes gone.

And any hopes of another comeback from the home side were dealt a blow when Rangers claimed their third of the day after 73 minutes. Miller came close to adding his name to the scoresheet when his close-range effort was blocked on the line by Sol Bamba but Edu was on hand to stab over the line from a couple of yards out.

Rankin then set up a tense finale to the game when he rifled home a thunderous shot from 25 yards with six minutes remaining - but Rangers held on for a much-needed victory.