Attendance 47,467
Manager Alex McLeish made one change from the side
cheated at Parkhead on Saturday with Allan McGregor
replacing Stefan Klos.
A less than welcome sight at Ibrox this evening was
Referee Dougie McDonald, whose appalling performance
at Tannadice just eighteen days ago cost Rangers
victory that afternoon. McDonald is also of course
Craig Levein’s old friend.
Bouquets were presented prior to kick-off to four
players who have graced Ibrox with their skills, and
who sadly are about to depart the scene, namely the De
Boer brothers, Michael Mols and Henning Berg.
A one-minute silence was held prior to kick-off in
memory of the dead in the Maryhill Disaster.
The home side almost struck early when Chris Burke’s
chip from a Fernando Ricksen pass was just wide in six
minutes.
It was soon apparent that there was very much an
end-of-season atmosphere about the game despite the
healthy crowd that was certainly more than many had
anticipated.
Mikel Arteta came close with an angled free-kick that
flew across the face of goal in 21 minutes, but eight
minutes later it was Hearts who came close to taking
the lead when Scott Severin’s header from a Steven
Boyack corner was headed off the line by Allan Hutton.
Arteta again created danger from another free-kick, on
this occasion from wide on the left, his effort almost
catching Craig Gordon by surprise, but the goalkeeper
was alert enough to turn the ball wide in 32 minutes..
Two minutes later Mols almost broke the deadlock when
he cut inside and fired a shot just wide.
The half ended goalless and desperately in need of a
moment of inspiration to lift the atmosphere.
Two half-time substitutions, one enforced, saw Maurice
Ross and Peter Lovenkrands replace the injured Frank
De Boer and Stephen Hughes with Hutton moving inside.
Mols again came close to opening the scoring two
minutes after the restart when his shot on the turn
from a Lovenkrands pass was held by Gordon, but the
breakthrough came at the other end when Hutton’s
back-pass was woefully short – Joe Hamill seizing on
the loose ball to sweep the ball home in 49 minutes.
Five minutes later Thompson should have equalised from
an Arteta corner for his header to be too high.
A strong penalty claim on the hour when Robbie Neilson
pushed Paulo Vanoli from a Burke cross was waved aside
by the referee.
Thompson again should have levelled matters in 77
minutes only to direct his header from another Arteta
corner wide of the post.
Michael Mols received a standing ovation when he left
the field sixty seconds later, to be replaced by
Ronald De Boer. Both players embraced on the
touchline.
With time running out, Thompson was again the villain
of the piece in 87 minutes when, clean through on a De
Boer flick, he somehow managed to run the ball out of
play.
The final whistle brought a bleak season at the
stadium to a depressing end, but the players were
accorded an ovation as they took their leave in the
centre circle.
Alex McLeish afterwards lamented:
"It was an emotional night for some of the players.
Too many were running on empty. It has been a
privilege to work with the De Boer brothers and
Michael Mols. I wanted to keep Frank, but he wants to
bow out at a high level."
RANGERS Klos; Hutton, F De Boer (Ross 45),
Khizanishvili, Vanoli; Burke, Ricksen, Arteta, Hughes
(Lovenkrands 45); Mols (R. De Boer 78), Thompson
UNUSED SUBS Robinson, MacKenzie
HEARTS Gordon; Neilson, Webster, Severin, Kisnorbo;
MacFarlane, Hartley, Hamill, Janczyk; Boyack (Sloan
78), Weir (McKenna 74)
UNUSED SUBS Moilanen, Wyness, Simmons
REFEREE Dougie McDonald