No pay but net gains for Hearts

Tom English
Zaliukas 20, Kingston 23
Karipidis og 26
WELL, well. What have we got here? A raucous Tynecastle, a Hearts team cheered to the rafters, high-fives and jubilance all around. Five wins out of five now for Csaba Laszlo's team. Five wins out of five and not a man, woman or child inside the stadium who gave a tuppeny damn whether the players were paid or not paid last week.

For their part, if they had frustrations about finance, the Hearts men took it out on the visitors, suckering them with two early goals and defending solidly thereafter, even after Lee Wallace was sent off with 15 minutes to go, when Rangers had mountains of possession but barely a thimbleful of composure or inspiration to go with it.

Walter Smith has every right to be worried about a recurring problem in his team. They've dropped 10 points on the road this season already. They lose goals from dead balls too often. They get themselves into a hole and they do not have a man capable of getting them out of it. Celtic normally find a way and their Houdini jobs have won them titles.

The art of escapology is not something Rangers possess just yet and it's seeing them fall further adrift of Celtic as the weeks go by.

"It's not Championship winning form," said Barry Ferguson. "The manager's just pointed that out to us. We have to win every game from now on."

Enough of Rangers, though. This was Hearts' day. A huge victory for their enigmatic manager. Laszlo packed his midfield with five men and harried Rangers all afternoon. "Csaba told us to get in their faces," said Christophe Berra who assisted in both of Hearts' goals. "I admired the way Rangers played in Europe last season," said Laszlo, "and I wanted to play them at their own game. I wanted to stifle them."

These are dizzying times for the Tynecastle crew. They haven't known days like these since George Burley was in his pomp three years ago, winning all around him and upsetting the natural order of things.

That was the last time Hearts won five on the trot and you have to say that if Laszlo's boys lack some of the quality of Burley's team then they are not short of big characters. Short of a salary, maybe, but not guts.

Laszlo was asked about the latest "blip" in the payment of employees. "I'm not the owner. For me, the big payment was three points." He was pressed on it. Have you been paid, Csaba? "I don't know," he smiled. You must know, came the reply. "I was two years in Africa," he joked. "I have so much money I don't look at my account." A nice side-step from the manager.

Berra, an impressive player and man, expanded on the payment issue. "We've been told there's a delay at the bank and that we'll get paid on Monday," he said. "I won't pretend there's no concern but we trust the people at the club and we trust the owner."

Easy to be calm when you've just brought Rangers down, of course. It was engrossing stuff. Rangers had Barry Ferguson and Pedro Mendes in the heart of their midfield, the dream team if you like. Yet Bruno Aguiar out-played the pair of them. The strides this guy has made are enormous, Laszlo's no-nonsense regime clearly agreeing with him. Aguiar was inventive and accurate, the game's class act.

In the 20th minute he really started to cause Rangers some serious heartache. His free-kick from wide on the left was planted on to the head of the determined Berra. The centre-half was taking no prisoners in his pursuit of the chance, getting in ahead of the unusually lacklustre Madjid Bougherra and nutting towards goal, his effort bringing a fine parried save out of Allan McGregor. The ball was free now, loose amid a ruck of bodies. It broke clear to Zaliukas who merrily stabbed it in.

Tynecastle rocked as Tynecastle tends to when the Old Firm are on their manor and in trouble. The malaise in the Rangers defence had the home support in raptures and when the very same tomfoolery happened a second time just a few minutes later the place shook to its foundations. The origins of Hearts' second were freaky in that it was a twin of their first. It all started with another Aguiar free-kick curled into the Rangers box, another header won by Berra at the expense of Bougherra, another decent attempt by McGregor to snuff out the danger and another simple finish. Berra's header went across goal, McGregor got finger-tips to it but the ball carried to Laryea Kingston at the back post. He stooped (he's only 5ft-nothing as it is) and headed home.

Remarkably, a third goal went in soon after; three in seven minutes. And it was another one that came as a result of a free-kick, this time from Charlie Adam. The midfielder swung in a ball from the right and up went Kris Boyd and Christos Karipidis to compete for it. Karipidis got a flick on it but directed it on to his own crossbar.

Chasing back in a desperate attempt to hook it clear he simply touched it over his own line. Rangers were back in it.

To a point. Hearts were still the better team and they had chances to re-establish their two-goal lead, first through Andrew Driver and then through Kingston, whose shot was beaten away by the alert McGregor.

Through the second half they were pushed back by Rangers, back and back until someone lost the plot. Chris Burke had come on to the field for Adam after 55 minutes and he began to make a nuisance of himself down the right. Wallace fouled him once and got a yellow card, fouled him twice and got a red.

Onwards came Rangers but they got nowhere. Hearts were too organised, Berra too rock-like, Rangers too lacking in ideas.

They ended up playing long ball and hoping for penalties. None came. "They never really opened us up," said Berra afterwards and he was right. And the downcast Smith knew he was right.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Bruno Aguiar contributed hugely but Christophe Berra was a commanding presence at the back, battering Kris Boyd out of the way at ever turn and offering tremendous leadership.

QUICK FACT

Jamie MacDonald was in goal for Hearts yesterday for just his second start of the season. His first? Against Rangers in August. He lost that one 2-0.

TALKING POINT

How long will it be before Berra becomes a regular fixture in the Scotland side? He's growing in stature all the time and he shirks nothing, either on the pitch or when he's being asked difficult questions by a room full of reporters later. Mightily impressive.

Taken from the Scotsman