Rangers 4 Hearts 0: Welcome party laid on

Stewart Fisher

8 May 2011

RANGERS' Whyte knight rode into town behind two police horses just in time to witness the Ibrox club hitting full stride, with the SPL winning post in sight.

At one point this season Hearts looked like a side genuinely capable of turning the chase for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League championship into a three-horse race.

However, Walter Smith's team are accelerating like thoroughbreds as they hit the final furlong, and the three first-half goals meant this victory was achieved at a canter. Strikes from Nikica Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty and Steven Davis – plus a late own goal from Ryan Stevenson – restored Rangers' four-point lead over Celtic at the top – ahead of the Parkhead club's visit to Kilmarnock today – with two games remaining.

It wasn't a bad show to put on for the club's first new owner in 23 years, who had been given a rousing reception as he and his cohorts walked, Reservoir Dogs-style, down Edmiston Drive the morning after concluding a deal with David Murray for his 85% stake in the club.

There were also cheers for Lee McCulloch, who made his first appearance since early February from the bench. "In the early part of the season he was a big part of our team so we are delighted to get him back," said manager Smith. "Although I don't think he will manage to gain full match fitness, he is always a handy one to have."

Hearts were a dishevelled a bunch by the final whistle. In training the day before the match, manager Jim Jefferies had gone with a backline that included Andy Webster, Lee Wallace and Marius Zaliukas, but none of the three made it on to the pitch, with the Lithuanian declared unavailable amid rumours of a bust-up with owner Vladimir Romanov yesterday morning.

The Tynecastle club host Celtic in midweek and must do so without Eggert Jonsson – dismissed on the hour mark for a crude lunge on Nikica Jelavic – and David Templeton, who pulled up with a hamstring injury.

"At training I was working with Webster, Zaliukas and Wallace, but they weren't available today for various reasons," Jefferies said. "That shows you how much it can change in 24 hours. My first thought was that Rangers' first goal was offside ... and any chance we had of getting back into the game ended with what for me was a bad decision to send off Eggert Jonsson. I think it was a foul, but I don't think it was serious enough to warrant a sending-off."

In truth, the loss of Templeton minutes before Jonsson's dismissal was just as severe a blow to Hearts. The 21-year-old's presence on the left flank was a source of discomfort to Steven Whittaker and within the first 20 minutes of the match he nearly put a dampener on Whyte's triumphant bow.

A Whittaker error gave him room to run at the Rangers' backline, and he duly skipped past Madjid Bougherra before tugging a left-foot shot across goal that beat Allan McGregor but also the supporting run of Stevenson and skipped an inch past the post.

Rangers had most of the game up until then and they took that as their cue to redouble their efforts. Jelavic had fired wide early on, but his 17th goal of the season wasn't too long in coming. Midway through the first half, Davis clipped a ball down the left and the Croat, with little angle to work with, fired in a volley which Jamie MacDonald could not keep out.

Ian Black – a man with a bit of previous with Rangers – stung McGregor's palms with a long-range drive soon afterwards, little suspecting it would lead to a goal at the other end. Davis and Whittaker started the counter attack, Gregg Wylde's effort from the Scotland full-back's cross was only partially cleared, and Kyle Lafferty steered a left foot finish into the corner.

A minute before the break it was three. Maurice Edu played in Wylde, and the excellent left-footed cross that is rapidly becoming the youngster's trademark was met flush by the forehead of Davis.

The second half threatened to get ugly. Jonsson and Jelavic had been conducting a feud of sorts since the first whistle and the Iceland international was given his marching orders for a two-footed lunge on the Rangers striker just after the hour, sparking a mass confrontation in which Edu and Steven Naismith were booked.

From then on it became a procession, even if Rangers seemed oddly reluctant to try to level matters with Celtic in the goal difference stakes.

Naismith and substitute David Healy each rattled a post but the only addition to the scoresheet came after MacDonald made hash of a Lafferty drive. El-Hadji Diouf appeared over-casual with a couple of attempts at goal, but the backtracking Stevenson had the misfortune to send the ball between his own posts.

Welcome party laid on

Taken from the Herald