Lovenkrands leaves Hibs stunned

Hibernian 2 Rangers 3

Peter Lovenkrands rescued Rangers last night, just as their hold on the CIS Insurance Cup looked ready to be prised apart by manager Alex McLeish's old club.

The Danish winger struck 12 minutes from the end to stun the Easter Road crowd, which had been at fever pitch since Garry O'Connor's stunning shot six minutes earlier had left the third round tie poised at 2-2.

O'Connor, now 19, showed the hunger that brought him a Scotland cap last season with a fierce 25-yard shot after seizing on a mistake from Robert Malcolm. However, Lovenkrands' pace took him clear on to Claudio Caniggia's pass and the Dane sent his team into the quarter-finals, where they face an away tie with Dunfermline Athletic next month. The misery for Hibernian was compounded when substitute Gary Smith was later sent off for a second bookable offence.

Before the kick-off McLeish had proclaimed a special affection for this competition because it afforded him his first success after moving to Ibrox from Easter Road, however his old club had no intention of putting out the welcome mat.

Hibernian surged into the lead after five minutes when Garry O'Connor's pace took him away from Robert Malcolm – press-ganged into service after Lorenzo Amoruso had injured a muscle in the warm-up – before delivering a shrewd pass across the face of the 18-yard box that Ian Murray crashed into the roof of the net with a venomous left-foot shot.

Easter Road erupted and O'Connor fed on the passion by single-handedly taking on the Rangers defence at any opportunity. The striker was only denied a goal in the 19th minute when Stefan Klos produced a superb save to tip the 30-yard shot wide.

However, three minutes later Ranger equalised against the run of play when Maurice Ross's low cross was knocked into his own net by Derek Townsley.

The defender's night got worse in the 25th minute when he cleared straight to Ronald de Boer who set up Caniggia for a deft finish over Nick Colgan.

The Edinburgh side suffered a further setback when Alen Orman was taken off on a stretcher after suffering an epileptic fit. Townsley almost atoned just before the hour with a downward header that shaved the post.

Hibernian (3-5-2): Colgan; Fenwick, Townsley (McManus, 68), Zambernardi; Orman (Smith, 31), Wiss, Murray, Brebner, James; Paatelainen (Luna, 81), O'Connor. Substitutes not used: Caig (gk), Brown.

Rangers (4-3-3): Klos; Ross, Konterman, Malcolm, Numan; Ricksen, Ferguson, Arteta (Hughes, 37); Caniggia, De Boer, Lovenkrands. Substitutes not used: McGregor (gk), Mols, Muscat.

Referee: H Dallas.