Rangers 4 - 0 Hearts: Walter Smith's men overcome early nerves to brush aside Hearts

Published Date: 09 May 2011
By Alan Pattullo
at Ibrox
ON THE face of it, this wasn't what was required only a matter of 24 hours after Neil Lennon had made a very public - and deliberate - point about expecting all opponents to make Rangers work for their points. By the end, Hearts were literally kicking the ball into their own net.
However, it wasn't as the scoreline might make it seem. Yes, Hearts scored an own goal, but there was little Ryan Stevenson could so as the ball hit his leg after El Hadji Diouf had sought to square the ball when his original shot was blocked by Jamie MacDonald. The visitors had also wounded themselves in the run-up to kick off, when, for reasons Jim Jefferies would not elaborate on, club skipper Marius Zaliukas was removed from the first-team picture.

Whatever had been the cause of this late change - Marian Kello, the goalkeeper, was also absent again - it was not what Hearts, who were already without a number of options, needed. After conceding three goals in the first half, Jefferies' men were already on a damage limitation exercise when Eggert Jonsson was sent off for a crude challenge on Nikica Jelavic with more than 20 minutes remaining. In fact, the final margin of defeat could represent something of a success for Hearts, who also saw the woodwork come to their aid on a number of occasions.

Adrian Mrowiec partnered Jonsson at centre-back, while Ryan McGowan was handed his first start of the season in the centre of midfield. Even had Hearts been at full strength it most probably would not have been enough to thwart a buoyant Rangers, with new owner Craig Whyte sitting watching from Sir David Murray's old seat in the directors' box. He might have been regretting parting with so much as a pound on the evidence of the first 20 minutes, as Rangers failed to get going against this patchwork Hearts team - whose efforts in the opening stages would have had Lennon nodding with approval.

Rangers eventually managed to surf the tide of celebration that swept Ibrox following the double fillip of Whyte's arrival being combined with Celtic's loss in midweek at Inverness. However, there were some nerves hampering the side at first, when Hearts made telling use of a resurgent David Templeton.

Steven Whittaker looked completely off the pace and the Hearts winger took advantage. To give credit to Whittaker, the full-back soon managed to chase off the imposter who was occupying the shirt of someone nominated by Kenny McDowall, the Rangers coach, as the Ibrox team's player of the year. Whittaker's team-mates grew into the game too.

Hearts did have the chance to make things awkward for Rangers, but Stevenson managed to reach Templeton's cross-come-shot at the far post after 17 minutes and just over five minutes later Jelavic opened the scoring with an angled shot which McDonald allowed to slip beneath his body. There was little hope of a way back for the visitors, especially when Kyle Lafferty turned in a Gregg Wylde cross after 39 minutes. Wylde delivered another fine cross for Steven Davis to head home just a minute before the interval.

"I have to say, with all the players we had missing today, I could not fault them at half time," said Jefferies of his team. "I felt sorry for them.

Jefferies urged them not to feel sorry for themselves, however. He asked them to ensure "they were not swamped" but this was a harder task following Jonsson's dismissal. Although they were overwhelmed at times, Hearts can at least marvel at how they managed to concede only once more.

While Hearts' seemingly endless quest to secure third place goes on, Rangers could luxuriate in the knowledge that the title race pressure was now firmly back on Celtic, even if Lennon's team did deliver a positive response to the challenge at Kilmarnock yesterday.

Walter Smith was a satisfied man, and there were plenty of reasons for the Rangers manager to be cheerful. For one thing, he will no longer have to reply to questions about the long-running takeover saga. Also, his options ahead of his two final matches in charge have been improved by the return of Lee McCulloch.

One of the biggest cheers of the day was reserved for his introduction after 70 minutes. With the game won, he was able to ease himself back into competitive action having been sidelined since January, and now comes into contention for a starting place against Dundee United tomorrow night. He is particularly keen to escape the tyranny of being restricted to a watching brief during the tense championship run-in.

"It's been tough," he said. "I am a bag of nerves watching games. Even sitting on the bench today there was a lot of nervous energy used up. I know I am better out there playing. To come back ahead of schedule is brilliant."

Taken from the Scotsman