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Kemar Roofe’s penalty with five minutes left gave sluggish Rangers an important victory against Hibernian and extended their Scottish Premiership lead.

It followed a laboured first hour as Hibs looked good for at least a draw, though it was Alfredo Morelos who squandered the best chance in a closely-fought game.

The win moves Rangers seven points clear of Celtic and crucially puts the pressure back onto their Glasgow rivals, who face Hearts on Thursday.

Hibs stay sixth despite defeat, but have now lost six of their last seven league matches.

The Easter Road side dismantled their opponents in the League Cup semi-final 10 days previously as new Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst watched from the stands.

Pre-match, the Dutchman said he had learned a lot from that game and it showed in a defensive sense as they kept a first clean sheet in eight league matches.

However, the leaders failed to sparkle going forward with Hibs goalkeeper Matt Macey only forced to make a few routine saves, although an excellent one to tip Ianis Hagi’s low shot past a post.

He didn’t have to stop Morelos’ first-half header as the Colombian inexplicably headed wide despite moving brilliantly between Hibernian’s centre-backs to get on the end of Joe Aribo’s clever cross.

Hibs went man-for-man to press Rangers in midfield and effectively stifled the visitors’ build-up play, but lacked a killer instinct themselves in the final third.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor was also never severely tested, with Chris Cadden’s low shot and Martin Boyle’s blocked effort the home side’s best chances.

And, as time wore on and legs tired, the game became stretched and Kent showed his potency.

The Englishman did brilliantly to stand up Porteous and cut inside, enticing the Hibs defender to leave a leg in and give referee John Beaton a decision to make. Hibs may claim Kent went down easily, but there was contact.

Roofe – who came on for Morelos in the second half after missing three games with an ankle problem – calmly sent Macey the wrong way.

Man of the match – Josh Campbell

What did we learn?

Pragmatism seems to be the short-term approach for Van Bronckhorst.

Usually forward-thinking, full-backs James Tavernier and Borna Barisic were clearly asked to retreat slightly to try to plug a leaky defence. This was particularly after what Boyle did to them at Hampden three weeks ago by running into the channels.

It worked well and, though they struggled to play past Hibernian’s press on the deck, they looked more of a threat when going direct and on the break.

Getting the ball forward quicker may be a string the new manager will want to add to Rangers’ bow. Aribo looks like he’s enjoying some more freedom too.

Hibernian were largely excellent until the final third, where things broke down. Campbell put in a good shift, as did Joe Newell and Jake Doyle-Hayes in midfield. Their man-for-man approach halted Rangers coming through the middle effectively.

Porteous also put in a solid performance until conceding the crucial penalty. Kent arguably went down easily, but the Hibs defender probably should have kept his leg out.

After six league defeats in seven games, Hibs need wins quickly and must take advantage of a more favourable, if very busy, run of games this month.

What they said

Hibernian head coach Jack Ross: “I think [the penalty] is one I would want in the opposition box. But that doesn’t mean it’s a penalty. At the time I had no idea; now I’ve watched it back and Ryan [Porteous] pulls his foot away. There’s minimal contact.

“It’s a 50/50, sometimes they’re given, sometimes they’re not and we would argue the case for it not to be given, naturally. I don’t think we deserved that or Ryan deserved that from his performance as well.”

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Sky Sports: “Very big win. It was a tough game as we expected. It was really close, a lot of physical play from both sides and not many chances.

“Fortunately we’ll take the win and three more points for us.”

What’s next?

Hibernian have another home league game in a congested schedule as they host Motherwell on Saturday (15:00 GMT), while Rangers face Dundee at Ibrox at the same time.