Rangers 1 Hearts 0

Peter Lovenkrands' strike secured all three points for Rangers against Hearts - and helped steer their Bank of Scotland Premier League campaign back on track.

It was the Ibrox forward's sixth goal in four games as the champions secured their first win at home since October.

Hearts' misery was compounded when Saulius Mikoliunas was shown a straight red card late in the game.

Rangers were allowed to bask in the glow of their European success on Friday, when they were paired with Villarreal in the last 16 of the Champions League.

But they knew they faced a far bigger task trying to haul themselves back into contention in the SPL title race.

The champions had taken a tentative step towards doing just that last weekend when their 3-2 victory over Kilmarnock allowed them to end a 10-match win-less streak, as well as leapfrog their opponents in the table.

With Celtic, Hearts and Hibernian still to be caught, Rangers knew the visit of the Tynecastle side was vital if they were to show they still have the hunger and ability to fight for their title.

But, with Craig Gordon between the sticks for Hearts, that proved to be easier said than done.

The Hearts goalkeeper pulled off a fine save early on to prevent Hamed Namouchi bulleting home a point-blank header, after he did well to connect with a Bob Malcolm free-kick.

Then it was nothing more than bad luck which prevented Rangers from taking the lead.

This time Lovenkrands whipped the ball into the path of Marvin Andrews a yard out. All that was required was to nudge over the line but the defender sent the ball spinning into the air instead and Gordon was able to clear the danger.

Gordon was then called into action again to defy the odds when Barry Ferguson released Chris Burke into the box and the young winger's header looked netbound - until the Hearts goalkeeper somehow managed to paw to safety.

But, despite his best efforts, Gordon was left plucking the ball out of the net after 35 minutes. Malcolm flighted a free-kick to Namouchi, who knocked into the path of Lovenkrands.

The Dane has been on fire in recent weeks - netting a hat-trick against Kilmarnock last week - and there was no way he was going to miss from six yards.

Rangers immediately set about putting Hearts under more pressure and could have doubled their advantage shortly after the restart.

Burke burst down the wing before cutting back to Lovenkrands but, this time, the Ibrox forward was off-target and fired over the crossbar.

Hearts skipper Steven Pressley was then booked for hauling down Lovenkrands, joining team-mate Roman Bednar is the referee's book, after he had been cautioned late in the first half.

Lovenkrands was still looking dangerous and was not too far away with a header from six yards out.

Malcolm became the first Rangers player to be booked for a foul on Deividas Cesnauskas.

Rangers were still trying to find the second goal that would make the three points safe for them but Burke drilled inches wide of the upright.

Steven Thompson was then thrown into the action in place of Namouchi for the last 10 minutes as the Ibrox side pushed forward.

Lovenkrands hurled himself into the box when he was tripped by Jamie McAllister but Rangers had to settle for a free-kick on the edge of the area and Lovenkrands fired straight into the hands of Gordon.

Mikoliunas was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Ferguson with four minutes to go, before Rangers held on for the win.

Teams:

Rangers Waterreus, Murray, Andrews, Kyrgiakos, Burke, Ferguson, Malcolm, Namouchi (Thompson 79), Buffel, Smith, Lovenkrands (McCormack 90).

Subs Not Used: Klos, Novo, Pierre-Fanfan, Jeffers, N'Guessan.

Booked: Malcolm.

Goals: Lovenkrands 35.

Hearts Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, McAllister, Cesnauskis (Mikoliunas 64), Hartley, Brellier, Skacel, Jankauskas (Elliot 64), Bednar.

Subs Not Used: Banks, Simmons, Berra, Wallace, Tall.

Sent Off: Mikoliunas (86).

Booked: Bednar, Pressley.

Att: 49,723

Ref: M McCurry (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com