RANGERS have finished 2007 on a high with a comprehensive 2-1 victory over Hibs at Easter Road.

An early strike from Steven Naismith and a second-half stunner from Daniel Cousin gave Walter Smith's side all three points in the capital although Hibs' substitute Merouanne Zemmama scored a late consolation goal for the home side with just three minutes remaining.

The Gers' gaffer reverted back to a 4-5-1 formation for the visit to Leith with Brahim Hemdani returning to the starting eleven in place of the injured Charlie Adam.

Having scored the opening goal in the 3-1 win over Motherwell at Ibrox on Boxing Day, Daniel Cousin was asked to play as a lone striker but was given plenty of support throughout the 90 minutes from attacking midfielders such as Naismith, Barry Ferguson and Chris Burke.

The match started at a frantic pace as expected and referee Charlie Richmond had his first big decision to make after only five minutes when Burke was brought down in the 18-yard-box by Hibs' left-back Lewis Stevenson.

The official looked closely at the incident before waving away any appeals, much to the disappointment of Burke who was causing havoc on the right wing in the early stages.

Rangers, however, were not deterred and a fine 20 yard shot from captain Barry Ferguson had to be watched closely by Yves Ma-Kalambay as it soared inches over his bar.

Tommy Craig's side were struggling to match the visitor's energy and attacking drive and on 12 minutes the Light Blues got their reward by opening the scoring.

Burke, not surprisingly, was the architect when he darted in to the 18-yard box and his low, driven cross was met at the back post by Steven Naismith who made no mistake from only three yards.

The early goal stunned the home support but their team responded well to going behind and instead of crumbling started to play some decent football without really troubling Allan McGregor up until the half-hour mark.

Cousin got a rough time from Hibs' giant defender Rob Jones in the first-half without any protection from the referee but the Gabon international showed his quality on 32 minutes when he skipped past two defenders before unleashing a terrific drive from 25 yards which stung the hands of Ma-Kalambay.

Cousin was then denied again moments later when Naismith fed his teammate the ball but his close range effort was saved by the Belgian keeper who had dived at the striker's feet.

Rangers certainly deserved their one-goal lead at the interval but Barry Ferguson was unlucky not to increase his side's advantage further on 40 minutes.

The skipper made a lung-bursting run into the last third of the pitch and when Naismith laid the ball perfectly into his path he dribbled past four Hibs players before being denied by Ma-Kalambay who was keeping his team in the game.

Craig elected to make two substitutions for the restart with Alan O'Brien and Guillaume Beuzelin being introduced to the game in place of Patrick Noubissie and Filip Morais respectively.

And Hibs came out the traps quickly in an attempt to catch their Glasgow rivals off guard.

Brian Kerr was first up to try his luck from 12 yards but his week effort was easily gathered by McGregor.

On 55 minutes Dean Shiels then rose above the Gers' defence to meet a dipping cross but his header was again too close to the Gers' No. 1.

Hibs were in the ascendancy at this stage but just when they looked to be getting a grip on the game they were dealt a suckerpunch on 58 minutes when Rangers fired home a sensational second goal.

Burke was given time and space to turn and when he picked out Cousin 20 yards from goal his left-foot strike flew into the roof of the net at the Rangers end of the ground.

It was a moment of really quality and from there the Gers' stars started to enjoy their afternoon with some excellent one-touch passing being produced in all areas of the pitch.

Walter Smith made his first, and only, substitution with 15 minutes remaining with Jean-Claude Darcheville replacing Cousin and the Frenchman received a rapturous applause from the away end on his return to the team.

Hibs had not strung one passing move together in the entire second-half but their fans were given something to cheer about at the death when Zemmama fired a low shot beyond McGregor.

In the end, however, this was as comprehensive a victory as Rangers are ever likely to enjoy in Edinburgh and the impressive return of Hemdani, along with Burke's return to form, will give the club real hope for the start of 2008.

Man of the Match: Chris Burke was influential for both goals and showed terrific skill but Brahim Hemdani just edges it after a classy display.