Hearts 4 (Driver 13; Tall 27; Stewart 66 pen; Ivaskevicius 70)
Rangers 2 (Cousin 49 pen; Beasley 74)

IT is tempting to see the goal-a-thon at Tynecastle through the prism of Scotland's exploits in France. In barnstorming fashion Hearts were able to rediscover their mojo - and how - because Rangers had key players that were spent after the national team pushed themselves beyond the limit in Paris.

But there is another way of assessing an encounter in which the Gorgie team gored all-too-lifeless prey and scored four goals over the Ibrox side in a league match for the first time in 71 years. Yesterday was Rangers' first major domestic test of the season, the first time they were at the home of opponents with serious designs on a leading place in the SPL. That they so comprehensively failed the test hardly bodes well for a Champions League campaign they will kick-off at home to Stuttgart on Wednesday. The result, combined with Celtic's win over Inverness, also saw Rangers replaced by their Glasgow rivals at the top of the table.

The Ibrox side's cause wasn't helped by Barry Ferguson sitting out the first half - he earned a penalty that reduced the deficit to 2-1 only minutes after appearing for the restart - or Alan Hutton and David Weir showing ill-effects from their midweek exertions. Hutton was responsible for a truly daft challenge on Kestutis Ivaskevicius that allowed Michael Stewart to make it 3-1 from the spot in 70 minutes, and effectively end any possibility of a Rangers comeback. But no excuses can be made for Carlos Cuellar and debutant Amdy Faye, who endured awful afternoons, or any number of Rangers players who initially allowed themselves to be completely overwhelmed by frothing opponents, several of whom had been on international duty themselves.

Smith boldly set out to guard against post-France fatigue with his Tynecastle selection. That was not unexpected ahead of a three month period when domestic and Champions League commitments will have them on a game-every-four-days treadmill. Yet, it still made for sharp intake of breath to see Ferguson named as a substitute and Lee McCulloch being rest altogether. Of the four Ibrox employees who played active parts in the Parc des Princes, only Hutton and Weir started. And injury to Andy Webster left Smith with no option but to push his 37-year-old centre-back through another draining 90 minutes.

It was a blessed relief to gaze down at the Hearts team-sheet, meanwhile, and not be confronted by the name of Saulius Mikoliunas. It meant being spared tedious jeering of the Lithuanian for his penalty-earning dive against Scotland that is set to bring sanction from UEFA. If the European body had any jurisdiction when it came to questionable behaviour in Scottish domestic matches, they would have had plenty to chew over from Tynecastle yesterday; a niggly, narky, nasty affair that left referee Mike McCurry requiring to have words with those on both sides seemingly every couple of minutes. He even had to tell assistants Ally McCoist and Stephen Frail to cool it on the touchlines after the Rangers No.2 was driven nutty by Robbie Neilson's conduct in an altercation with DaMarcus Beasley.

Carlos Cuellar has won rightful plaudits for combativeness and composure since arriving in the summer. These two qualities deserted him in the opening period yesterday - in spectacular fashion. He looked off the pace from the moment he careered through the home side's creative fulcrum Andrius Ksanavicius as if he were a runaway train in the seventh minute. Another injudicious intervention from Cuellar five minutes later and Hearts were deservedly ahead. The Spaniard seemed too mesmerised by Ksanavicius' edge-of-the-box trickery to realise that by sliding in he was merely knocking the ball straight to Andy Driver. His effort from wide on the left was a mighty hit, but appeared to require a nick off Hutton's thigh to go in via the far post.

Cuellar was the unwitting architect of a second for the home side in the 26th minute. A hit and hope from Ibrahim Tall at the edge of the box wickedly deflected off the foot of the centre-back and looped up and over the helpless Allan McGregor. Rangers were then well out of it. And remained so until Neilson clattered Ferguson in the box. That allowed Daniel Cousin to convert and the visitors to contemplate a turnaround with a 42 minutes left.

Those thoughts did not survive Stewart burying a penalty at the other end 16 minutes later. Rangers were bedraggled when Ivaskevicius added a fourth for Hearts after he turned inside from the left and fired in a low effort that dribbled underneath McGregor's body. When Beasley did likewise two minutes later neither he nor any team-mates showed any emotion. From the point the scoreline read 2-0, they appeared to accept it would be Hearts' day.

Taken from the Scotsman