A headed goal by Ronald de Boer early in the second half gave Rangers the points on an afternoon when tempers soared past boiling point.

The closing minutes saw Rangers' Jorg Albertz and then Hibernian's John O'Neil shown straight red cards for serious foul play within seconds of each other.

Referee Kenny Clark also booked seven other players as the free-kick count went into interstellar overdrive.

A crowd of almost 50,000 was stoked into rage by heavy challenge after heavy challenge although the two teams amazingly also found time to play some football as well.

But most of that came in the first half and the second was rarely more a war of attrition.

Not so long ago, Rangers manager Dick Advocaat had accused his players of not trying hard enough and Hibs arrived with a reputation for silky attacking play.

The encounter was played through a thick fog of red mist, and the signs were there from the start.

Rangers defender Bert Konterman, in his endearingly bizarre website, had declared before hand he thought Hibernian, with the meanest goals against column in the SPL, would come to defend.

And indeed they did for the first 45 minutes, although they did not follow the pattern set by less ambitious teams of massing their ranks and hoping for the best.

Instead, Franck Sauzee and partners Gary Smith and Paul Fenwick managed to win most of the 50-50 balls and when Rangers tried the old one-two wall pass there was always someone in the way.

That solid foundation gave the rest of the team licence to counter-attack and it has to be said they posed more of a threat than the previous team in green and white to visit Ibrox.

Hibs wing-back Ulrik Laursen produced the most stinging shot of the first 45 minutes too, forcing Stefan Klos into the best save, although the home fans probably had a point when they loudly claimed the initial attack had been forged from an offside position.

As befits a team that had to win, Rangers produced the majority of the attacking play and de Boer, playing as Michael Mols' strike partner, came the closest.

He flicked a Fernando Ricksen cross wide of the goal and earlier on, in the first attack of the game, had bounced a free header from a Neil McCann cross wide.

But many were already wondering before the half-hour mark had been passed when the first red card was going to be flourished by Clark, who booked two from each side before the break.

Ricksen, the kung fu king of the small screen, was involved in the first yellow card, as you might expect from a man who was only allowed to play in the first place because of a legal challenge by his employers on the Scottish Football Association that was every bit as strong as the one he made on Aberdeen's Darren Young that got him banned in the first place.

But this time he was the victim, with David Zitelli, the winning goalscorer in the previous encounter at Easter Road, the aggressor.

Zitelli lived dangerously afterwards and was withdrawn in the 41st minute without looking too injured.

Claudio Reyna, the US player of the year, was also cautioned for a hack on Laursen and Barry Ferguson and Mathias Jack were booked for their part in a brief melee following Ferguson's follow-through on goalkeeper Nick Colgan.

Kenny Miller replaced Mols at the break, with Tugay also coming on as sweeper for Sergio Porrini, who had made his first start since Halloween.

But while Miller was destined to play little part on his 21st birthday, it took de Boer just five minutes to break the deadlock with a headed goal close in from Neil McCann's cross from the left.

Hibs had to attack more now and with the stakes raised the free-kicks came ever more quickly. But these simply added to the atmosphere and it was pure entertainment to see Dick Advocaat popping out of his dugout in utter fury at one decision in favour of Russell Latapy.

As for the Trinidadian, he had a quiet game and while he didn't exactly "disappear up his own backside" as an official Rangers publication had beforehand claimed he would, he had minimal influence on the game and was replaced with 11 minutes to go by fellow countryman Lyndon Andrews.

But the real controversy was not far away when Albertz was sent off for squaring up head to head with Gary Smith.

Clark was not finished and seconds later sent off O'Neil for a kick at Reyna.

It was a crazy end to proceedings but the result on the final whistle meant Rangers had cut Hibs lead down to two points and still have a game in hand.

Advocaat's pre-match boats that it would still be an Old Firm one-two this season is still on course to become reality.

And Hibs have still only won once at Ibrox in the last 10 years.

Rangers: Klos, Konterman, Porrini (Tugay 46), Amoruso, Ricksen, Reyna, de Boer (Dodds 87), Ferguson, Albertz, Mols (Miller 46), McCann.

Subs Not Used: Christensen, Ross.

Sent Off: Albertz (80).

Booked: Reyna, Ferguson, Amoruso, McCann.

Goals: de Boer 49.

Hibernian: Colgan, Gary Smith, Fenwick, Sauzee, Laursen (Murray 46), O'Neil, Jack, Latapy (Andrews 79), Lovell, Zitelli (McManus 41), Paatelainen.

Subs Not Used: Franks, Lehmann.

Sent Off: O'Neil (82).

Booked: Zitelli, Jack, Fenwick, Gary Smith.

Att: 49,993

Ref: K Clark (Scotland).