tonight with a 2-1 win over Hearts thanks to an
injury-time penalty from Fernando Ricksen.
On a night of high drama the game ended in complete
uproar with two players ordered off - Dado Prso for an
off-the-ball incident with home goalkeeper Craig
Gordon, Saulius Mikoliunas for an assault on Assistant
Referee Andy Davis.
Manager Alex McLeish made three changes from Saturday
with Ronald Waterreus, Maurice Ross and Michael Ball
replacing Allan McGregor, Alan Hutton and Steven Smith
against a Hearts side fielding two of their intake
from Lithuania, namely Saulius Mikoliunas and Deividas
Cesnauskis whilst the third Marius Kizys was on the
bench.
The customary hectic start to any game in the tight
and claustrophobic confines of Gorgie saw the home
side make most of the early running - Robbie Nielson's
sixth minute twenty-yarder flashing just over.
Twelve minutes later a Mikoliunas cross was spilled by
Waterreus but when the loose fell to fellow Baltic
star Cesnauskis he skied the ball over the bar.
The Lithuanians were certainly showing enough to
justify their presence - Jamie McAllister's 23rd
minute free-kick finding Mikoliunas whose drive was
turned onto a post by Waterreus.
Rangers meanwhile were solid but unimaginative - but
Nacho Novo was inches away from opening the scoring in
32 minutes with a twenty-yard shot from a Fernando
Ricksen lay-off.
The interval arrived goalless, but it was the visitors
who showed greater purpose on the restart, netting the
opening goal in 48 minutes when Novo slotted home a
slide-rule pass from Dado Prso.
Hearts were far from downhearted however - and twice
inside the next five minutes Marvin Andrews came to
the rescue for Rangers, firstly when he deflected wide
a Mikoliunas drive from the edge of the box, then from
the resultant corner he cleared a Cesnauskis shot off
the line.
The visiting support were in good voice, and one
target for their ire was none other than Jack
McConnell who recently has taken a selective view on
the problems of the West of Scotland.
Rangers were getting more and more on top as the
second-half reached the halfway mark - Ricksen's
22-yard volley from a Michael Ball free-kick in 65
minutes being beaten away by Gordon.
Four minutes later Hamed Namouchi replaced Thomas
Buffel.
Prso came close to clinching the points with ten
minutes left on the clock when Christophe Berra headed
his chip from a Gregory Vignal pass off the line.
With just three minutes left Hearts substitute Mark
Burchill equalised when he turned the ball home from
point-blank range after Paul Hartley's 25-yard
free-kick had been turned onto a post by Waterreus.
Two vital points looked to have been lost - but
Rangers came right back sixty seconds later with a
22-yard Ricksen free-kick being turned over by Gordon.
With the ninety minutes up and the game entering
injury time there was one more dramatic twist in the
game when a Namouchi cross towards Sotirios Kyrgiakos
saw the Greek hauled back by Lee Miller.
It was a clear penalty but Referee Hugh Dallas
appeared to signal for a goal-kick until a signal from
linesman Andy Davis confirmed the award of a
penalty-kick.
Whilst Referee and Assistant were in consultation,
Dado Prso was over-enthusiastic in attempting to
retrieve the ball from the hands of Craig Gordon and
was red-carded for his troubles. That was nothing to
what followed however for when Hugh Dallas pointed to
the spot Saulius Mikoliunas assaulted Assistant
Referee Andy Davis - the Lithuanian being immediately
ordered off.
Playing a true captain's role, Ricksen stepped forward
to convert the penalty and secure a 2-1 win for
Rangers.
The teams and officials left the field to a storm of
booing and a shower of missiles from the home support.
Alex McLeish afterwards summarised:
"It was a difficult first-half but we stretched Hearts
in the second. The players showed great spirit and
fought to the death. Dado Prso was over-enthusiastic,
but left the referee with no option."
The final irony is surely that the two players
red-carded were arguably the best men on the park.
HEARTS Gordon; Neilson, Berra, Webster, Wallace;
Mikoliunas, Hartley, MacFarlane (Kizys 76), McAllister
(Burchill 80); Cesnauskis (Hamill 83), Miller
UNUSED SUBS Moilanen, Wyness, McKenna, Simmons
RANGERS Waterreus; Ross, Andrews, Kyrgiakos, Ball;
Buffel (Namouchi 69), Ricksen, Ferguson, Vignal; Prso,
Novo
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Burke, S. Smith, Thompson,
Malcolm, A. Rae
REFEREE Hugh Dallas
Attendance 13,842