2 years ago
39
ARTICLE AD BOX
Todd Cantwell's equaliser turned the tide for Rangers before Hearts' late equaliserRangers ended Hearts' hopes of claiming third place in the Scottish Premiership after an entertaining draw to finish the season unbeaten at Ibrox.
Lawrence Shankland gave the visitors a sensational first-minute lead as they aimed to chase down Aberdeen in third, but ultimately Rangers took control.
Todd Cantwell and Fashion Sakala scored either side of half time after defensive mistakes from Hearts, as Rangers looked set to give Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos, and Scott Arfield the ideal Ibrox farewell.
But substitute Garang Kuol scored a stoppage-time leveller for Hearts, who go into their final match against Hibernian only needing to avoid defeat to finish fourth, which would earn a place in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
But it is ultimately disappointing for the club to miss out on third place which, as long as Celtic win the Scottish Cup, will earn guaranteed European group-stage football and a bounty of at least £4m.
- All the latest Rangers news & analysis
- Dowell agrees Rangers move
- Everything you need to know about Hearts
Missing out is even more galling because they had a 10-point lead over Aberdeen at the end of January, only for a run of poor form to coincide with the Pittodrie side's winning streak.
That cost Robbie Neilson his job, and Naismith has done his bet to salvage things, particularly by beating Aberdeen at the weekend, and they got the perfect start at Ibrox too.
A simple throw-in was poorly dealt with by Rangers and Shankland nodded home, and eventually got his 28th goal of the season after a VAR check for offside.
The visitors set about adding to that lead and Josh Ginnelly was denied by McGregor, but slowly Rangers worked their way back into the game.
Michael Beale's side wanted to maintain their unbeaten home record, give a proper send off to some of their long-serving players, and win all of their post-split fixtures for the first time.
Cantwell stroked in his sixth Rangers goal on the break after James Hill slipped trying to intercept Morelos' pass, and then just after the break Toby Sibbick failed to deal with a long ball and allowed Sakala in to stab his team in front.
Rangers piled on the pressure and Morelos and Arfield both missed chances to score on their final games at Ibrox, and Hearts kept at it and got their reward.
Kuol finished past McGregor from close range after some scrappy Rangers defending to earn a draw, but given that was effectively the last kick of the game, it was not enough to keep the race for third alive.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Rangers
Formation 4-3-1-2
- 1McGregorBooked at 37mins
- 2Tavernier
- 16Souttar
- 38KingSubstituted forArfieldat 66'minutes
- 3YilmazBooked at 55mins
- 4Lundstram
- 43RaskinSubstituted forJackat 81'minutes
- 13Cantwell
- 18KamaraSubstituted forMatondoat 66'minutes
- 20MorelosBooked at 58minsSubstituted forWrightat 82'minutes
- 30SakalaSubstituted forLowryat 90'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Hagi
- 8Jack
- 17Matondo
- 23Wright
- 28McCrorie
- 31Barisic
- 37Arfield
- 44Devine
- 51Lowry
Hearts
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 28Clark
- 12Atkinson
- 21Sibbick
- 72Hill
- 15RowlesBooked at 63mins
- 14DevlinSubstituted forMcKayat 70'minutes
- 5HaringSubstituted forKiomourtzoglouat 83'minutes
- 88OdaSubstituted forSmithat 61'minutesBooked at 78mins
- 9Shankland
- 17ForrestSubstituted forKuolat 83'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 30GinnellyBooked at 45mins
Substitutes
- 2Smith
- 7Grant
- 8Kiomourtzoglou
- 13Stewart
- 16Halliday
- 18McKay
- 20Neilson
- 45Tait
- 61Kuol
Referee:John Beaton
Attendance:48,428
Live Text
Match ends, Rangers 2, Heart of Midlothian 2.
Second Half ends, Rangers 2, Heart of Midlothian 2.
Garang Kuol (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
Goal! Rangers 2, Heart of Midlothian 2. Garang Kuol (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
John Souttar (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian).
Substitution, Rangers. Alex Lowry replaces Fashion Sakala.
Attempt missed. Michael Smith (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Barrie McKay following a corner.
Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by John Souttar.
Attempt blocked. Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Orestis Kiomourtzoglou.
Attempt blocked. Fashion Sakala (Rangers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by James Tavernier with a headed pass.
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by James Hill.
Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Orestis Kiomourtzoglou replaces Peter Haring.
Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Garang Kuol replaces Alan Forrest.
Substitution, Rangers. Scott Wright replaces Alfredo Morelos.
Substitution, Rangers. Ryan Jack replaces Nicolas Raskin.
Attempt blocked. Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by James Tavernier.
Michael Smith (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt missed. Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Rabbi Matondo.
Attempt missed. Todd Cantwell (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Scott Arfield.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Rating range key1 = Give it up10 = Pure perfection
Rangers
Squad number1Player nameMcGregor
Squad number2Player nameTavernier
Squad number16Player nameSouttar
Squad number38Player nameKing
Squad number3Player nameYilmaz
Squad number4Player nameLundstram
Squad number43Player nameRaskin
Squad number13Player nameCantwell
Squad number18Player nameKamara
Squad number20Player nameMorelos
Squad number30Player nameSakala
Squad number8Player nameJack
Squad number17Player nameMatondo
Squad number23Player nameWright
Squad number37Player nameArfield
Squad number51Player nameLowry
Heart of Midlothian
Squad number28Player nameClark
Squad number12Player nameAtkinson
Squad number21Player nameSibbick
Squad number72Player nameHill
Squad number15Player nameRowles
Squad number14Player nameDevlin
Squad number5Player nameHaring
Squad number88Player nameOda
Squad number9Player nameShankland
Squad number17Player nameForrest
Squad number30Player nameGinnelly
Squad number2Player nameSmith
Squad number8Player nameKiomourtzoglou
Squad number18Player nameMcKay
Squad number61Player nameKuol
English (US) ·