Hearts 1 - 2 Rangers

Thomas McGuigan

Rangers striker Kris Boyd celebrates the winner at Tynecastle
Substitute Kris Boyd fired Rangers to victory from the penalty spot

Kris Boyd's injury-time penalty secured victory for 10-man Rangers in an explosive Scottish Premier League encounter at Tynecastle.

Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson was sent off for a lunge on Ian Black.

And Hearts took the lead on 31 minutes when David Witteveen's shot squirmed through Allan McGregor's grasp.

Lee McCulloch's header restored parity and substitute Boyd scored the winner after Ismael Bouzid was adjudged to have fouled Steven Naismith in the box.

Following their bruising Europa League defeat by Dinamo Zagreb, Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo freshened up his side, with goalkeeper Janos Balogh coming in for Marian Kello.

Black and Witteveen came in for the suspended Michael Stewart and Marius Zaliukas.

The game erupted within two minutes when Suso and Kenny Miller clashed after the Hearts winger's crunching challenge on the touchline.

Referee Craig Thomson booked both players as he attempted to keep a lid on the ill-tempered start to proceedings.

Rangers midfielder Thomson was making his first competitive start since November after recovering from a serious knee injury.

But his return to action descended into a nightmare when he was red-carded in the 13th minute following a dangerous lunge on Black.

Hearts pressed to make their numerical advantage count, but the sending off appeared to disturb the rhythm of both sides.

The visitors appealed in vain for a penalty in the 19th minute when Miller tumbled under Jose Goncalves's clumsy challenge.

Suso struck the post after 24 minutes when Witteveen pinched the ball from Madjid Bougherra and the winger's shot came back off the woodwork and bounced to safety.

Hearts took the lead eight minutes later with a goal that McGregor will not want to see again.
Kevin Thomson receives a red card following his lunge on Ian Black
Kevin Thomson saw red for a lunge on Ian Black

Christian Nade's pass found Witteveen and his fairly tame effort squirmed through McGregor's grasp and trickled over the line.

Laszlo shuffled his pack after the goal, with Nade, who had earlier been booked, being withdrawn for Gary Glen.

Sasa Papac conceded a foul on the edge of the penalty area for a foul on Suso, but David Obua failed to profit from the resulting free-kick.

Hearts looked to have doubled their lead in 47 minutes when Witteveen chased down Balogh's long ball, but the ball came off Bougherra and slipped past the post.

From the resulting corner McGregor brilliantly tipped Goncalves's header onto the bar and the visitors cleared the danger.

David Weir's header then sped past Balogh's left-hand post from Steven Smith's excellent cross as Rangers tried to force their way back into the game.

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Witteveen spurned a great opportunity to double the hosts' lead with half an hour remaining when he failed to find the unmarked Glen on the edge of the penalty area.

And McCulloch made Hearts pay for their profligacy when he headed Smith's free-kick past the helpless Balogh.

The equaliser galvanised the visitors, with Smith, Davis and Naismith became more influential as Hearts seemed to panic with the ball and regularly surrender possession.

Suso stung McGregor's palms with a thunderous shot four minutes from time, as Hearts were left to rue a host of missed opportunities.

Boyd then broke Hearts when he scored from the spot after Bouzid's reckless challenge on Naismith, as Rangers stretched their unbeaten league run to 12 games.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo:
"We played some good football and had some good chances. I have my opinion about the penalty, but the referee gave it and I cannot do anything about it.

"This was a better game than what we showed against Zagreb, but if you have so many young players then you lose a lot of the ball.

"But we were unlucky and we lose the three points. We made too many mistakes in midfield.

"I was forced to save Christian Nade after his yellow card. We had discipline and didn't make any big fouls.

"But up front we have a big problem."

Rangers manager Walter Smith:
"I don't think it was a sending off, but it was an opportunity for the referee to send him off.

"I thought it It looked far worse than it actually was. "I don't think there was any great contact made and obviously if there had been, the player would never have been able to continue in the manner he did do for the rest of the game.

"In the second half we played better, we imposed ourselves on the game.

"Sometimes when you've got 10 men you can play between the opposition a bit better strangely enough. "At the time we took the lead I felt we deserved it for what we had put in to the game in the second half."

Taken from the BBC