Heart of Midlothian 0-2 Rangers
From Hearts Media at Tynecastle

Hearts' run of home victories came to an end as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in Sunday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League encounter with Rangers at Tynecastle.

Steven Naismith's strike in the 20th minute had given the visitors a half-time lead, before substitute Nikica Jelavic grabbed a second midway through the second half to seal the win for the Glasgow side.

Hearts were unchanged from last Saturday's win at Dunfermline, with Paulo Sergio keen to maintain the consistency which has seen his side notch up four home wins on the trot without conceding. The visit of the champions would provide a formidable test, however, as they came to Tynecastle having conceded just one goal in their last twelve games on the road.

Hearts came flying out the traps during the opening exchanges, but Rangers held firm and soon applied some pressure of their own as the two sides cancelled each other out during the first ten minutes.

Hearts continued to impress with some neat combinations but none of them materialised into significant chances. Their pressure continued but despite pinning the visitors back for large periods, they found themselves on the back foot on the twenty minute mark.

A mazy run from Steven Whittaker enabled him to weave his way through the Jambos midfield before releasing Steven Naismith with a well-timed defence splitting pass. The Scotland striker made no mistake when one on one with Kello as he calmly slotted the ball through the Slovak's legs. The boys in maroon were undeterred by the early set-back, however, and continued to attack at regular intervals. Despite that, the clear cut chances continued to evade them as the Rangers rearguard coped well with the home side's advances.

Then, as halftime approached, Stevenson found himself through on goal courtesy of Ian Black. He poked the ball past the on-rushing Allan MacGregor, who promptly turned to chase the ball over the line as it narrowly missed his left post. Rudi Skacel then dispatched a sizzling volley which forced a good save from the keeper as Hearts finished the half in the ascendancy.

Rangers started the second half brightly but Sergio's men held firm for the first ten minutes before slowly picking up the pace. Eggert Jonsson went mighty close with a well struck shot from 25 yards which forced MacGregor to give a rebound, Adrian Mrowiec then latched on but was unable to convert from a tight angle.

Mrowiec should have levelled the scores minutes later, however, after a terrific run from David Templeton down the left flank. The winger outpaced Dorin Goian before cutting inside the Rangers area and squaring the ball to the surging Mrowiec on five yards, but his finish went wide with the goal at his mercy. It would prove to be a costly miss indeed, as Rangers doubled their lead in the 73rd minute. A long and seemingly harmless ball from Carlos Bocanegra fell to substitute Nikica Jelavic. The Croatian talisman measured his shot before sliding it into the bottom left corner past Kello.

As with the first goal, the home side immediately set about attacking and went close when Stevenson was gifted a double chance. His initial shot from 18 yards forced MacGregor to give a rebound which Stevenson then latched onto but his second effort was cleared to safety. Sergio responded by making three changes within a few minutes of each other as David Obua, Mehdi Taouil and Gordon Smith all entered the fray.

The substitutions did little to change Hearts' fortunes, however, as Rangers comfortably saw out the last ten minutes to ensure their unbeaten record remained intact.

There were plenty of positives for Hearts despite the defeat, and they must now turn their attention to next Saturday's clash with Kilmarnock at Tynecastle.

Hearts: Kello, Hamill, Zaliukas, Webster, Grainger, Mrowiec, Black (Smith, 82), Jonsson (Taouil 74), Templeton, Skacel (Obua, 82), Stevenson. Subs not used: MacDonald, Novikovas, Robinson, McGowan.

Rangers: McGregor, Goian, Papac (Wylde, 71), McCulloch, Edu, Davis, Lafferty (Jelavic, 71), Wallace, Naismith, Whittaker (Broadfoot, 76), Bocangera. Subs not used: Alexander, Bedoya, Fleck, Perry.

Referee: Calum Murray

Top man: David Templeton

Hearts World