Rangers 4-0 Hearts: 'Gers close in on title
Poor performance from Hearts as showdown for league starts
By STEPHEN TEMLETT
RANGERS kept the momentum for three in a row with an emphatic win over a poor Hearts side today at Ibrox.
Rangers took the lead through Nikica Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty put the reigning champions two nil up with Steve Davis putting the game out of Hearts’ reach before half time.
Eggert Jonsson was shown red for a bad challenge on Jelavic and an unfortunate own goal for Ryan Stevenson meant the game ended 4-0 to Walter Smith’s men.
This will heap yet more pressure on Celtic who will play Kilmarnock tomorrow after dropping points earlier this week.
Before the game started there was another rendition of Penny Arcade by the Ibrox faithful which set the tone for the afternoon with a terrific atmosphere inside Ibrox. This was probably due to a number of reasons. Craig Whyte completed his purchase of Rangers last night and the fans were still enjoying the fact Celtic dropped three crucial points after being beaten by Inverness during the week.
The game started brightly with both teams attacking from the start with some clever football being played. However Rangers right-back Steven Whittaker had a very poor start to the game being caught out by similar through-balls to Hearts’ winger David Templeton who beat Whittaker for most of the time he was on the pitch.
Rangers began to apply more pressure and Jelavic went close on eight minutes but put his shot past Jamie McDonald’s post. Hearts had their fair share of chances too with Whittaker, again, being caught napping by Templeton who flashed a cross past the goal. Had Ryan Stevenson been a split-second quicker, or a foot taller, Hearts would have been one up. While Whittaker's performance improved this was one of his worst games in a Rangers shirt since his arrival.
Just as the pace of the game threatened to drop off Rangers mounted an attack on the Hearts’ goal. Steven Davis’ pass bet the offside trap and Nikica Jelavic slotted the ball underneath MacDonald to put Rangers one nil up after 22 minutes.
Walter Smith’s men doubled the advantage five minutes before half-time. Ian Black’s shot was eventually saved by Allan McGregor who quickly got rid of the ball and Rangers countered Hearts with Whittaker fizzing a cross along the goal line and Gregg Wylde’s deflected pass fell to Kyle Lafferty who thumped home from close-range.
A minute from half-time Rangers finished the game as a contest with a third goal. Maurice Edu, whose improvement was extremely noticeable today, picked up a loose ball in Hearts’ half and passed out to Wylde whose cross found Davis who headed home from six yards. MacDonald looked suspect for the last goal and he probably will feel like he could have done much better with this one. Davis’ goal was well-deserved due to the effort he put in today. He had a solid shift and along with Steven Naismith it was very difficult to pick a man of the match between the two.
The second half did not improve things for Jim Jefferies when Templeton pulled up with an injury before the hour mark. He was immediately substituted and replaced by Stephen Elliot. This adds to the injury pile up for Hearts with Andy Driver needing a hernia operation, Suso injured and Kevin Kyle potentially missing the start of next season.
The game changed into a scrap a minute later after Eggert Jonsson made a rash challenge on Jelavic and the game descended into a brawl. After the dust settled referee Ian Brines, who had a very average afternoon, gave Johnson his marching orders. If Hearts had a mountain to climb before the red card the game was well and truly beyond them now.
The game took on a training exercise feel to it with Rangers persistently attacking the demoralised Jambos. Hearts barely kept the ball for more than a minute and were chasing Rangers all over the pitch.
Things could have gotten worse for Hearts when Davis was through on goal but was stopped by an excellent and well-timed challenge by Ryan McGowan who played well despite the score line. Rangers received another boost when Lee McCulloch marked his return to the first team in the 72nd minute.
Steven Naismith hit the crossbar after a goalmouth scramble but a fourth goal was not long in coming. The final goal had an air of comedy to it. Lafferty’s initial shot was parried by McDonald and Diouf, instead of tapping home, messed about with it and struck the ball off of unlucky Ryan Stevenson to round off the rout.
This week could be one of the best Rangers have had in a long time with the sale of the club finally being done after months of “48 more hours”, Celtic dropping points and Rangers finding some real form in front of goal. Rangers will also hope for the league to be won on Tuesday night at home to Dundee United.
Rangers team: McGregor, Weir, Papac, Whittaker, Bougherra, Wylde, Edu (McCulloch 72), Davis, Lafferty (Healy 85), Naismith, Jelavic (Diouf 71)
Substitutes not used: Alexander, Foster, Fleck, Hutton
Hearts team: MacDonald, Obua, McGowan, Thomson, Jonsson, Palazuelos, Black, Templeton (Elliot 58), Stevenson, Skacel (Robinson 61), Mrowiec (Barr 78)
Substitutes not used: Balogh, Stewart, Driver, Glen
Attendance: 46,178
Referee: Ian Brines
Man of the match: Steven Davis
