Hearts 0 Rangers 4

A goal in each half from Claudio Reyna helped destroy Hearts at Tynecastle this afternoon as Rangers ran riot.

It was just the tonic the Ibrox men were looking for ahead of their Champions League clash with Parma on Wednesday as Michael Mols and Jorg Albertz also found the target.

The ease of victory could hardly have been envisaged by Rangers coach Dick Advocaat but the way Hearts, rated as the clear third force of Scottish football, subsided does not bode well for the Premier League.

Reyna opened the scoring after 14 minutes, firing in from the right after Mols had pulled away to the touchline to play a neat one-two, the American international sprinting clear of the home defence before rifling home.

Mols has already earned hero status with the Rangers faithful and added a second from an acute angle as the opening period entered stoppage time.

Questions will be asked at the way Gilles Rousset allowed the ball past him from the narrowest of angles but Mols seems destined to bag many more, having now scored three goals in his first four games in the famous light blue jersey.

After his ill-advised interview in midweek, Paul Ritchie was left on the substitutes' bench, not given an opportunity to impress the side he "would jump at the chance of joining".

Gary Naysmith replaced Gary McSwegan as injury forced manager Jim Jefferies into one change from the side which defeated St Johnstone last week.

Advocaat opted to rest Dutch midfielder Giovanni Van Bronckhorst but winger Neil McCann must be rated as a real doubt for Wednesday as he failed to recover from a knee problem.

Reyna's return though did give Advocaat the balance he was seeking.

The American has been overshadowed by Ibrox's more famous imports but could turn out to be a Premier League superstar.

He tracks back intelligently, doesn't waste possession and, as his double strike proved, has more than an eye for goal.

Doubts were also raised about Mols following a couple of less than impressive pre-season performance.

But the sceptics have been proved wrong already.

The Dutchman's strike in first-half injury-time may have owed much to Rousset's failings but his balance alone created at least three attacking opportunities.

Mols having developed the happy knack of being able to turn on the spot and retain possession while his marker skids off in another direction.

With Scott Severin pulled back to man mark Rod Wallace, Hearts were short on numbers in midfield and Albertz in particular found acres of space, although the German couldn't pull the trigger one of his famous bullet shots.

The visitors always maintained an air of composure while their hosts looked rushed in possession - a clear sign of the extra quality £50million can bring.

Hearts did enjoy one purple patch towards the end of the first period, with lanky defender Kevin James twice peeling off at the far post to cause trouble from deep, crossfield free-kicks.

On the first occasion, James nodded back into the six yard box where Stephane Adam's instant header was palmed away by Stefan Klos.

A couple of minutes later the former Falkirk man opted to aim for goal himself but failed to direct the chance on target.

Ironically, Hearts best opening came seconds before they went two down.

Cameron threaded a magnificent through ball across the penalty area, which Darren Jackson looked marginal favourite to reach.

But, as the Rangers defenders gave up the chase, Klos raced out to toe the ball away from Jackson's feet a millisecond before disaster.

With the game effectively over, Rangers could have been forgiven for allowing their minds to wander to their European date with destiny.

But it appeared Advocaat had only used the interval team-talk to inspire his men to greater effort.

Off came the under-fire Craig Moore, Sergio Porrini moving to central defence to partner fellow Italian Lorenzo Amoruso, Dariusz Adamczuk taking the vacant full-back berth.

Hearts tried a couple of hard tackles to raise the spirits of their disgruntled fans but Rangers merely smiled and swept them aside.

Mols' pace and agility was too much for the swamped Hearts defence to cope with.

The former Utrecht man tried to scramble through a crowd of bodies on the edge of the box midway through the second half.

The tackles flew in but the ball rolled loose to Albertz, who after so many earlier chances, finally decided to take one, his left foot strike arrowing into the corner.

Still Rangers weren't finished, Wallace found space on the left, put a regulation cross into the box and Reyna appeared unmarked to head home from a central position.

Through all this, the usually animated Jefferies sat in his seat fixated, his opposite number leaning against the dug-out in silent satisfaction.

At 4-0, Advocaat eventually decided to give his fringe men a game.

On came £4million striker Gabriel Amato and cult hero Ian Ferguson, with Johansson and Reyna departing, the American in particular to a standing ovation.

As if taking their leave from their coach, Rangers eased off - but Hearts were too shellshocked to notice.

Everyone knew the Premier League title was a two-horse race - but they didn't expect it to start on the second Saturday of the season.

Teams

Hearts: Rousset, Pressley, Naysmith, James, Fulton (Juanjo 63), Adam (Locke 83), Cameron, Jackson, Murray, Flogel, Severin (Makel 83).

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, Ritchie.

Rangers: Klos, Porrini, Moore (Adamczuk 45), Amoruso, Vidmar, B. Ferguson, Mols, Wallace, Albertz, Reyna, Johansson (Amato 76), Adamczuk (I. Ferguson 76).

Subs Not Used: Niemi, Nicholson.

Booked: Johansson.

Goals: Reyna 14, Mols 45, Albertz 67, Reyna 73.

Att: 17,893

Ref: John Rowbotham (Scotland).



Taken from sportinglife.com