Boyd stakes claim for a starting role

RANGERS 2 Boyd 47pen, 49
HEARTS 0

IF Kris Boyd was expected to do his talking on the pitch then this two-goal performance wasn't a plea for a regular starting place, it was the equivalent of a booming demand over the public address system. Paul le Guen heard it but something may have been lost in the translation.

A converted penalty in the first minute of the second half was followed up by a powerful back-post header three minutes later and it was a double whammy Hearts were never going to bounce back from. After weeks of creating umpteen chances but failing to convert, it's no wonder that the man who proved himself the mostly deadly finisher in Scotland last year was afforded a standing ovation when he was taken off with the game won. Point made. Well, three actually.

But Le Guen was not as gushing in his praise. "He must improve on his game. I'm happy with his two goals but there is a lot to better. He must be more available for his partners. Yes, goals are the most important thing in football but I feel that he must be aware that he must improve on his game."

What he did contribute was enough to take the Ibrox side to the top of the league for the first time since August last year and end 12 months of jibes. Oh, how the Rangers fans loved it.

The last time they had welcomed the capital side into their home was the last day of last season and they had taunted them with the fact that they were merely third best in the country. When they arrived for this one they were still sitting pretty, top of the league table, while Rangers were ruing the points dropped against Dundee United and Dunfermline in successive weeks. But a quick one-two in the opening minutes of the second half and suddenly roles were reversed.

Suddenly the recent criticisms levelled by Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov, claiming the high moral ground and labelling the football played by the Old Firm crude and unsophisticated, looked rather ridiculous. In fact, with the goal scoring contributions from Boyd, Rangers now look like a team capable of entertaining while also winning games. In previous weeks the attacking play had looked pretty but with a cutting edge it is now looking pretty effective.

Hearts, on the other hand, need to find a way of realising the same standards they set last term because at the moment they are falling short. Looking one dimensional in the opening two league games of the campaign, they had managed to get by without truly matching the form that granted them second place and the Scottish Cup last season. But having slipped up against Falkirk and still without the influential Paul Hartley in the centre of midfield, against a team with more options and flair, their luck had finally run out.

With Calum Elliot a surprise inclusion in the Hearts team, given the fact he is expected to leave on loan to one of a host of Premierleague sides vying for his signature later this year, Hearts started with three strikers.

The game plan had obviously been to hit Rangers early, breach the defence and break the spirit of a home support less than chuffed with the previous two results. But things don't always go to plan and it goes to prove that without adequate service to the front line, they would have been as well with no strikers.

From the outset Rangers looked the more lively. Introducing Lee Martin, on loan from Manchester United, and playing down the left wing, he made it a miserable afternoon for Saulius Mikoliunas and Robbie Neilson. But he wasn't the only one contributing to Neilson's nightmare.

While Martin oozed confidence and ripped to the byeline several times before cutting in or crossing the ball into the danger area, it was actually Dado Prso who tempted him into a silly tackle just inside the box with 46 minutes on the clock. It gifted Rangers the opening goal, with even Craig Gordon, in spectacular form again, failing to foil Boyd, who sent him the wrong way.

It was no more than Rangers deserved at that stage, having already forced saves from Gordon several times throughout the first half.

In the third minute, he got down well to stop a Karl Svensson effort and in the 22nd minute Boyd stuck to his task well despite the attentions of the Hearts defence and fed the ball to Prso who had his effort stopped by the keeper. Two minutes later it was a brilliant reaction save to push a Boyd shot over the bar.

Then, with the two minutes of the first half remaining, the Scotland No.1 had to get down again, this time to a Julien Rodriguez header. But the best of the lot came on the stroke of half-time when Chris Burke dinked a beautiful ball over the Hearts central defensive pairing and into the path of Prso whose shot would have been nestling in the back of the net had he been up against most other keepers but Gordon made himself big and bravely blocked.

The ball ricocheted to Boyd but, with the keeper out of the way, his shot was blocked by Neilson, who was almost prone on the ground.

It was simply a hint of what was to come as Hearts failed to get their passing going and lacked the cohesion to test Gordon's opposite number Lionel Letizi. A long-range shot from Takis Fyssas flew in his general direction but was off target.

The start to the second half was almost inevitable and from then on, instead of hauling themselves back into the match, Hearts gradually lost the plot as they skipped further and further out of it. It could have been worse in the 59th minute when Prso's drive hit the stanchion and bounced back and with even the usually unflappable Steven Pressley finding his way into the referee's book, the frustration in the Hearts ranks was telling.

The only bright spot in a torrid and troublesome afternoon was the introduction of Hartley for the final 20 minutes and the fact he came through them unscathed. It's more than can be said for Neilson, seeing red in the dying seconds. In fact, it's more than can be said for Hearts' morale which had already taken an almighty dunt.
MAN OF THE MATCH

KRIS BOYD: Paul Le Guen insists the young striker still has plenty areas of his game to work on but even he admits that the most important thing for a striker is goals. Having struggled to make the most of their superiority and fine build-up play in recent weeks, Boyd's finishes were the telling difference for Rangers and while there were a few candidates for the man of the match award, the ability to get the goals that have been proving hard to come by sees Boyd edge it.

Taken from the Scotsman