Dubious penalty gets Rangers out of jail at Tynecastle
DARRYL BROADFOOT, Chief Football Writer August 24 2009

Tynecastle rarely stints in staging a tinderbox spectacle between these incendiary rivals. The Edinburgh Festival would struggle to conjure up something as compelling as this dramatic plot twist.

Rangers, a goal and a man down after a short-lived return to starting duties for Kevin Thomson, summoned a rousing - not to mention riotous - comeback.

Kris Boyd applied his customary finish to an 90th-minute penalty but that tells only half the story. The striker, again the victim of Walter Smith's indifference, had only just arrived on the pitch and provided the headed knock-on from which Steven Naismith was hauled to the ground by Ismael Bouzid. Boyd mocked the Hearts supporters during his celebrations but the disbelieving regulars did not see the funny side, duly launching coins and, of all things, peppermints at the goading, goalscoring glutton.

Csaba Laszlo, the home manager, was further aggrieved to learn of dubiety about the penalty, with television evidence proving inconclusive as to whether the foul had occurred inside the penalty area. Walter Smith, of course, was having none of that. It was a day when Craig Thomson, recognised as the country's foremost referee, could not do a thing right in the eyes of the respective coaches.
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His decision to dismiss Kevin Thomson 13 minutes into his vaunted return to Rangers starting line-up proved one of his less contentious decisions.

Anyone watching this spirited, solid Hearts side for the first hour would struggle to see any resemblance to the team that endured a trouncing against Dynamo Zagreb three days earlier. Rangers rarely looked like defending champions, either, except in demonstrating fortitude to overcome two self-inflicted wounds and salvage a most dramatic win.

Lee McCulloch's second goal in as many games cancelled out David Witteveen's opener. The Austrian's goal owed more to Allan McGregor's ongoing insecurity than any expert execution. On the day that his girlfriend, Leah Shevlin, was busy posing in her smalls for the salacious Sunday tabloids, her fella could not have looked any less comfortable in dealing with the shot if he had worn a pair of stockings and stilettos.

The grit and determination that characterised last season's title win was evident in the final 30 minutes. Yet the dire lack of invention or creativity from wide areas continues to be a source of concern to the Rangers manager who has tried to spruce up the aesthetics of the team. John Fleck and, until the last minute, Naismith were largely peripheral figures, lacking the verve and zest with which their Celtic counterparts, Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney, have flourished in the early stages of the season.

With McCulloch becoming a pillar of reliability in midfield and David Weir and Madjid Bougherra again providing a reassuring layer of protection, the perennial Old Firm rivalry is already shaping up as the irresistible force meets immovable object. Watching Weir is an education. The 39-year-old effortlessly jogged around defusing potential incidents around McGregor's goal. Bougherra was not only Rangers' best defender but the most convincing attacker. Unless Naismith and Fleck begin to offer more craft, Smith will always be tempted to revert to the template that maximises the strengths of his lean squad.

Hearts' supporters were left with little to savour but the sprightliness of Suso Santana, the Spanish winger, offered some comfort. He revelled in the wind-ups and showed enough trickery to suggest he can become the latest cult icon. From the moment Suso scythed down Kenny Miller, earning a booking and the instant acclaim of the Gorgie Boys, the mayhem barely relented. The little Spaniard is one of a flock of new arrivals, many of them to the surprise of the latest manager to lament Romanov's megalomania.

Laszlo's men are nothing if not unpredictable and had other ideas than another 90-minute endurance test. An unrecognisable defence, a depleted midfield and strike partnership that needs a WeightWatchers plan more than a pre-season were oddly cohesive for a side that had surrendered so meekly in Croatia.

Thomson, his gradual reintroduction complete, displayed a recklessness that would have been attributed to rustiness had it not been such a prominent feature of his career. He careered into Black and the referee barely broke stride before issuing a red card. The Hearts midfielder adopted the foetal position and may even have milked the challenge but, as Smith acknowledged later, it invited the harshest sanction.

A sequence of perceived minor injustices thereafter only exacerbated an already agitated coaching team.

Rangers survived a rare act of naivete from Bougherra. The pitiful sight of Christian Nade lumbering around, crashing into opponents like a malevolent drunk exhausted the patience of the referee, who booked him for persistent fouling. It was all too much for Laszlo, who summoned Gary Glen to replace him after a half-hour. Nade's last act was to tee up Witteveen for a shot that should have trundled harmlessly into McGregor's arms. Instead, the goalkeeper somehow managed to spill the meek effort under his body.

A penny for Neil Alexander's thoughts.

Nade's assist was insufficient to spare him the hook. The Frenchman has never moved as quickly as he did when bounding up the tunnel, all the while hurling abuse at the manager.

Smith administered the kind of second-half surgery that is known to induce groans from the Rangers legions. In order to stiffen-up a limp midfield, Steven Smith replaced Fleck. This was not the kind of alteration that pointed to a rousing comeback but the change reaped dividends. Rangers' recovery was initiated by a brutish foul from David Obua on Miller. Smith swept an inviting free-kick into the box and McCulloch continued his talismanic streak with a forceful header. Enter Boyd for the dramatic finale.

Taken from the Herald