Rangers put pressure on Celtic in the SPL title race with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Hearts at Ibrox courtesy of two Lee McCulloch goals, the second and winning counter coming in 86 minutes through a catastrophic error from visiting goalkeeper Eduardas Kurskis.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from Wednesday with Charlie Adam, Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith replacing Sasa Papac, Kevin Thomson and Daniel Cousin.
The Light Blues were all out for an early goal - and Adam almost produced it in three minutes when his wide-angled twenty-yard shot struck the crossbar.
Two minutes later Alan Hutton's long throw was head-flicked on by McCulloch to Naismith whose close-range shot was blocked by Kurskis.
Naismith may have been out of luck on that occasion, but he should certainly have done much better than slice the ball wide from a Hutton cross in eleven minutes.
The opening goal was merely delayed a further six minutes however - a long pass from Adam finding Boyd bursting between Robbie Neilson and Ruben Palazuelos, the ball breaking to McCulloch who swept it home.
The former Wigan player almost had a second goal in 23 minutes when his snap-shot following an Adam free-kick was blocked, appeals for handball going unheeded by Referee Dougie McDonald.
Rangers remained in control of play throughout the remainder of the first-half with the Gorgie men scarcely crossing the halfway line until just before the interval when they won two corners in quick succession that came to nought.
Unbelievably Hearts equalised with their first effort on target in 56 minutes when Andy Driver's free-kick was headed home by Andrius Velicka.
Seven minutes later the Ibrox men almost regained the lead when a sweeping move down the right-hand side involving Naismith and Hutton produced a cutback from the full-back that found Boyd six yards out only for the striker's effort to be blocked.
The visitors had taken great encouragement from their goal - and a Barry Ferguson error midway through the second-half allowed Driver to send in a twenty-yard drive that Allan McGregor touched over.
Jean-Claude Darcheville replaced the ineffective Boyd in 69 minutes, and the Frenchman would make a considerable impact as Rangers strove to turn the game back in their favour.
Chris Burke made his first League appearance of the season when he replaced Naismith in 83 minutes.
With time running out, Rangers struck in 86 minutes when Adam's free-kick on the edge of the box was squared to Hutton whose low drive was scooped goalwards by McCulloch. Kurskis seemed to have the ball in his hands, but astonishingly the Lithuanian 'keeper fumbled it into the net.
There was no way back for Hearts - and indeed it should have been 3-1 in the dying seconds when Darcheville broke from the halfway line, his cutback from the left breaking to Ferguson who somehow shot wide of the target.
Afterwards a relieved Walter Smith reflected:
"It was a vital win today. We started well, and should have had more than one goal. We lost a bad goal. We were a little bit flat after Wednesday. The squad is important for some crucial games ahead, with three out of the next four away from home."
Hearts Coach Stephen Frail was honest enough to admit:
"Substitutions are outwith my control, as is the choice of goalkeeper."
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Weir, Cuellar, Whittaker; Naismith (Burke 83), Ferguson, Hemdani, Adam; Boyd (Darcheville 69), McCulloch UNUSED SUBS Carroll, Papac, Ehiogu, Furman, Efrem
HEARTS Kurskis; Neilson, Zaliukas, Berra, Goncalves; Mikoliunas (Ivaskevicius 45), Jonsson, Palazuelos (Beniusis 87), Driver; Velicka (Nade 59), Elliot UNUSED SUBS Banks, Wallace, McGowan, Brown
REFEREE Dougie McDonald