Rangers take it to the wire

STUART BATHGATE AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 0
Rangers 2
De Boer (65), Lovenkrands (72)

EVEN before this match, the league race was so tight it was beginning to seem more like an exercise in claustrophobia than a sporting contest. Now, following the narrowest possible result required to restore Rangers to pole position, it could all go down to the last seconds of the last game of the season.

Presuming both sides of the Old Firm win next Sunday, when Rangers are at home to Dunfermline and Celtic visit Kilmarnock, the title will be decided by the relative margins of victory. The two teams would then have 97 points, and could even have run up 100 goals each by the end of their games. That is how close they are to each other, and how far ahead of the rest.

Rangers’ second goal in yesterday’s hard-fought victory over Hearts, however, has given them the momentum again. Their goal difference is the same as Celtic’s, but they have scored one more, and, whatever modest noises they make in public, will be confident of scoring a few at Ibrox in six days. The primary aim, as always, is to secure victory, but an early goal would surely open the floodgates.

That might have turned out to be the case yesterday, had, for instance, Mikel Arteta’s fourth-minute shot found the net rather than grazing the crossbar on its way behind Tepi Moilanen’s goal. But that was one of the few clear-cut chances for either team in the opening 45 minutes, and long before half-time it was apparent that the visitors would be forced to labour for the three points.

Indeed, on the balance of chances Rangers would have to regard themselves as lucky not to have conceded a goal in the first half. A free-kick from Scott Severin just a few minutes after Arteta’s effort was tipped over by Stefan Klos, and in the last ten minutes Hearts had three decent opportunities to open the scoring.

The first two, medium-range efforts from Stephen Boyack and Robbie Neilson, were wide of Klos’ goal, but the third, a shot from Mark de Vries, forced the German into touching the ball out for a corner. Crucially, however, Rangers were not panicked either by the chances Hearts were creating or by their own inability to make the breakthrough. In fact their patience and self-discipline contrasted favourably with the approach of their opponents, who too often tried to force the play only to needlessly concede possession.

Stephen Hughes was the most creative influence for the first hour or so of the game, exemplifying an awareness of the need to make forceful rather than merely hopeful passes. It was evident all the same, though, that Rangers would need to up the tempo in search of the win, and Alex McLeish’s half-time introduction of Peter Lovenkrands for Arteta did exactly that.

Hearts, who have proven to be one of the fittest teams in the division, matched Rangers stride for stride, refuting those conspiracy theorists who suggested they would not try too hard. Indeed, although his club’s European place was all but assured by Kilmarnock’s failure to win at Dunfermline on Saturday, Craig Levein resisted the temptation to rest key players, and even took a gamble on the fitness of Mark de Vries in an attempt to get his strongest team on the park.

The Dutchman had the first significant attempt on goal of the second half, but his 20-yard shot was easily saved by Klos. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the contest tipped in Rangers’ favour. First, De Vries, who had performed well as an auxiliary defender at set-pieces, conceded a penalty by needlessly handling a corner. Shota Arveladze’s low strike was saved by Moilanen, but, before they had time to be discomfited by that failure, Rangers mounted another attack and this time managed to defeat the Finn. Making amends for his spot-kick, Arveladze took possession on the edge of the Hearts box and delivered a near-post cross which Ronald de Boer headed home.

Rangers went for the jugular thereafter, and with 20 minutes to play Lovenkrands saw a speculative effort fly wide. A couple of minutes later the Dane was more accurate from the edge of the box, though his shot from a De Boer pass was deflected past Moilanen by a despairing touch from Andy Webster.

Even when 2-0 down and clearly heading for defeat, Hearts refused to become dispirited, and might have scored in the closing minutes when De Vries broke free of Lorenzo Amoruso only to see his shot stopped by Klos. Yet, while Craig Levein claims they have performed more consistently against both halves of the Old Firm this season, the fact remains that Hearts have now failed to score in their last seven meetings with Rangers.

They may have got rid of any previous inferiority complex, but until they manage to score against the Ibrox side they will come away with, at best, moral victories. Their victory over Celtic last month was a significant morale-boost, and played a significant part in their securing of third place, but they are aware that they still have some way to go before they can claim to be a consistent match for either of the two big Glasgow clubs.

Of course, those sides may yet turn out to be an exact match for each other.

All it will take on Sunday is for both to win by the same margin, but with Celtic scoring one more goal. A 4-0 for Rangers and a 5-1 for Celtic, for instance - scores which are hardly outwith the bounds of possibility - would trigger a play-off.

With only six days of regulation time remaining, this championship could have a long way still to run. Never has the supposed home straight of a race had so many twists and turns.

Hearts: Moilanen, Maybury, Pressley (Simmons 74), Webster, Neilson, Boyack, Severin, MacFarlane, Valois (Kirk 78), Weir (McKenna 63), De Vries. Subs not used: McKenzie, Mahe.

Rangers: Klos, Ricksen, Moore, Amoruso, Numan, Ferguson, Mols (Thompson 62), De Boer, Arteta (Lovenkrands 45), Arveladze, Hughes. Subs not used: McGregor, Malcolm, Caniggia.

Referee: H Dallas.

Attendance: 15,632

Taken from the Scotsman