Unhappy night for Hearts - and they fall foul of the referee Negri double makes all the difference at Ibrox

By KEN GALLACHER

5 Aug 1997

Rangers................3 Hearts..................1

RANGERS moved to the top of the premier division last night after their first game of the season, taking over the position that they seem to assume by right.

Hearts arrived at Ibrox with their own ambitions, and with a pedigree that saw them finish fourth in the championship last season.

However, they were never a match for the champions in this live televised clash that still drew an enormous attendance of 48,257.

By half time, they had four players in the referee's book, and had lost two goals.

They had scarcely been able to muster a credible attack.

Before the end, they had another player yellow-carded, lost another goal, could have lost more, but managed some respectability with a late strike from substitute Colin Cameron after Rangers had loosened their grip on the game.

By then, the Ibrox men knew that they were heading for the No.1 spot on goal difference and few people would argue that the position they occupy now will be any different from the one they occupy when the season ends.

They won this game comfortably, and they won it with some style.

Indeed, in the second half they might have scored more goals, but somehow Marco Negri, who had scored twice in the first half, seemed to seize up as Brian Laudrup twice gave him opportunities for a hat trick.

Still, Negri did enough to show that he can be another goal hero for the Ibrox support with his second goal, in particular, a gem to be remembered.

However, the other new players made their point.

Staale Stensaas looks a more than adequate replacement for David Robertson.

Sergio Porrini is exactly the professional Italian defender he was seen to be with Juventus.

The Swedish World Cup captain, Jonas Thern, meanwhile, is a man who is able to run any midfield, as he proved last night.

Rangers worried that their new men might take time to settle.

Perhaps there were times in this opening premier division game when there were minor misunderstandings, but there was quality running through the side - this was without Lorenzo Amoruso and Paul Gascoigne.

Oh, but they did have Andy Goram back in goal, and, if anyone can help to settle a defence, then it is the Scotland man.

It took Rangers 39 minutes to go in front - but, in a brief period earlier, Hearts had shown just how much they felt under pressure.

In an eight-minute period, they had three players cautioned.

In 28 minutes, Neil Pointon was shown the yellow card for a severe tackle on Jorg Albertz.

Then it was Stefano Salvatori's turn after he fouled his fellow countryman Negri.

Finally, that period ended with Stephen Frail being cautioned for a wild challenge on Stensaas.

It indicated the pressure that Rangers were placing on Hearts when they scored.

Inevitably, Laudrup was at the heart of things.

He crossed and there was Sergio Porrini up to augment the attack, sending in a header that beat Gilles Rousset but struck the foot of a post.

Negri, though, pounced to force the ball over the line and Rangers were ahead.

Rousset booted the ball at the linesman in a gesture of dissent and became the fourth player to see the yellow card.

His misery was completed just a minute later.

This time Laudrup pushed a ball through, the Hearts defence failed to clear, and Negri moved in.

He looked up, saw Rousset off his line, and chipped the giant Frenchman.

The ball struck the underside of the ball and dropped into the net and Rangers were totally in control.

David Weir was the fifth Hearts player to be booked in 53 minutes for another foul on Negri, and 10 minutes afterwards, the Italian's shot struck the bar after another Laudrup pass set him free.

Somehow, though, he lost his goal touch when easier chances were created.

Twice Laudrup set him up for his hat trick, and twice he mis-kicked when he seemed certain to score.

Six minutes from the end, Alex Cleland did give Rangers their third goal.

He struck a left foot shot that hit the base of a post and then spun over the line and into goal to secure Rangers' position at the top of the table.

Even the consolation counter from Colin Cameron, who had taken over from Thomas Flogel at the start of the second half, could not take that away from Rangers.

Nor did it silence the ovation that greeted them at the end of the game.

Rino Gattuso was another of the new players to appear, taking over from Craig Moore and almost giving Brian Laudrup a goal towards the end.

The young Italian was greeted rapturously by the support and he is sure to become a favourite.

However, the individual displays would mean less to manager Walter Smith last night than the manner in which his team has already appeared to gel.

The way they did so is a concern for the rest of Scotland's premier division clubs.

TEAMS Rangers - Goram, Cleland, Stensaas, Porrini, Moore, Bjorklund, Thern, Ferguson, Negri, Albertz, Laudrup.

Substitutes - Durie, Gattuso, Andersen.

Hearts - Rousset, Frail, Pointon, Weir, Murray, Ritchie, Salvatori, Flogel, Hamilton, Fulton, McCann.

Substitutes - Adam, Cameron, Horn.

Referee - S Dougal, Glasgow.

Taken from the Herald