STEVEN Gerrard last night called on Hibernian to take action after Rangers left back Borna Barisic had a glass bottle thrown at him during the Ibrox club’s emphatic 3-0 win at Easter Road.
A half bottle of vodka was hurled from the East Stand at Croatian internationalist Barisic as he lay on the turf writhing in agony after being scythed down by Hibs centre half Ryan Porteous.
Jermain Defoe and Barisic had earlier been pelted with bottles and other missiles by Hibs fans after the former England striker had scored a second-half goal.
Hibs upgraded their CCTV and heightened security measures at matches after similar incidents in games against Rangers and Celtic at the Leith ground last season.
Gerrard, whose team moved to within two points of Ladbrokes Premiership leaders Celtic with the victory, praised his players for how they coped.
Asked if he had seen the bottle that was thrown at Barisic, he said: “Bottles, lighters, all kind of objects. It’s not my business. It’s down to Hibs to deal with that.
“We don’t want to see that in any stadium. We want players to be safe, want fans to be safe. Borna is fine.
“We spoke to our players on numerous occasions, told them to keep their cool in this situations. I’m very pleased with their behaviour."
Porteous was shown a straight red card by referee Nick Walsh for the foul on Barisic and Hibs assistant John Potter and Rangers first team coach Tom Culshaw were also ordered off after both dugouts squared up to each other on the touchline.
“I think both benches won’t be proud of seeing that back,” said Gerrard. “That’s not what it’s all about. We need to control emotions better.
“It was a straight red card. We were disappointed with Hibs trying to defend that. You could see it was a red card from a hundred metres away.”
Gerrard was delighted with how Rangers, who won a Easter Road for the first time in two years, performed during the 90 minutes and with striker Defoe especially.
READ MORE: Hibernian 0 Rangers 3: Steven Gerrard's men romp to convincing win as tempers flare in the capital
“I was very happy,” he said. “We were excellent until the red card, very dominant.
“People will go away talking about the goals and the front three. Rightly so. But I was really pleased with back seven as well, how solid they were.
“I was pleased with the win and clean sheet. There was a lot of pressure on players before a ball was kicked and they answered it.
“People were ready to write headlines - one-man band, can’t play without (Alfredo) Morelos.
“He (Defoe) is not going to be around for much longer. But we all need to admire that forward play. There was a lot of pressure on Jermain because of Alfredo. But he handled it.”
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