JAMES TAVERNIER has been Rangers’ Mr Reliable from the penalty spot in recent years.
The Ibrox skipper has scored 12 from ten yards this season – but he failed to make it 13 against Hibs this afternoon.
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Rangers reclaimed their top spot in the Premiership with a 3-1 win over Hibs in Govan.
Tavernier got himself on the score-sheet once again, netting his 21st goal of the season after firing home the Gers’ opener.
But he was denied a goal just moments earlier when David Marshall saved his penalty effort, with play then pulled back for an encroachment when Scott Wright pounced on the rebound.
The captain had missed three spot-kicks earlier this season – against Hearts and Livingston – with Scotland hero Marshall getting the better of him in the Scottish Cup clash earlier this month.
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Tavernier opted for the middle this time around and it didn’t pay off.
But the Rangers legend has jokingly refused to take the blame for the miss as he’s revealed it was his wife’s idea.
Speaking after the 3-1 win, Tavernier laughed: “My wife told me if I got a penalty I should put it down the middle today – that one is on her!”
Tavernier made history when he eventually found the net at Ibrox.
He is now the highest-scoring British defender of all time, overtaking Graham Alexander on 131 goals.
Meanwhile, Rangers boss Philippe Clement praised his players following the win as he claimed his side could have scored SIX against Hibs.
He said: “I’m satisfied with a lot of things; the goals, the way we dominated Hibs with and without the ball, not giving away many chances – almost nothing.
“They only had one shot on target. A pity that it’s a goal. We could have scored four, five or six today.
“We scored four, but we were unlucky with Scott that he was just inches with his foot already in the 18 yards at that moment.
“It’s very important also that I had the ability to give minutes to players who came out of injury or who didn’t play so much, like Barisic, Matondo, Sima, Wright, Cantwell, Lawrence, Sterling.
“It was a puzzle before the game to see who starts and ends the game so it was a perfect scenario in this way.”
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