Attendance 31, 609
Rangers are through to the League Cup Final with a 1-0 win over Hearts at Hampden Park tonight courtesy of a first-half goal from Ronald De Boer.
It was a ninety minutes fraught with uncertainty with the Cup Holders at times struggling to overcome the negativity and destructiveness of their opponents, but at the end of the night it was an opportunistic goal from Rangers’ Dutch Master that decided the tie. Rangers made just the one change from Saturday with Lorenzo Amoruso replacing Bob Malcolm, who was called up into the Scotland squad for next week’s friendly International against the Republic of Ireland.
The Light Blue legions were out in force on a bitterly cold night, whilst at the other end there were huge gaps amongst the ‘Jambo’ support, although no doubt had the Gorgie side managed to reach the final they would have been demanding a 50% share of the tickets.
On a threadbare pitch it was Rangers who threatened first – a Barry Ferguson twenty-yard free-kick being fisted out by goalkeeper Tepi Moilanen, the rebound finding Michael Mols who shot into the side-netting. ‘Fergie’ was involved in every attack at this juncture – ten minutes later another low drive, this time from 25 yards, again broke to Mols only for the Dutch striker to slice his shot wide.
Hearts were not slow to demonstrate that they had not made the journey along the M8 merely to make up the numbers. A Jean-Louis Valois free-kick from all of 25 yards was deflected inches wide with Stefan Klos scrambling to get across his goal.
The opening goal arrived in 26 minutes – the catalyst being a superb pass from Arthur Numan that released Neil McCann down the left. McCann’s deep cross found Fernando Ricksen at the back post, his header across the face of goal leaving De Boer with the simple task of heading into an unguarded net.
Rangers went all out for the kill – five minutes later a Mols 22-yard drive almost caught Moilanen by surprise, the Finn fisting the ball clear, then within sixty seconds he held a Ferguson drive from a similar distance.
The first yellow card of the evening arrived in 39 minutes when Phil Stamp chopped down Mols, but there might well have been a card of a different hue early in the second-half when Alan Maybury barged Mols to the ground in retaliation for an innocuous foul by the Ranger. Astonishingly Referee Mike McCurry decided merely to speak to both players.
The referee was beginning to lose the place - Ricksen was booked in 54 minutes when he tangled with Stephane Mahe, then four minutes later both Mikel Arteta and Steven Pressley were yellow-carded when the Spanish youngster was blatantly kicked by ‘Elvis’. Quite what Arteta did to deserve his caution must remain a mystery.
The negative offside tactics employed by their opponents who clearly did not recognise that football is meant to be an entertainment was frustrating Rangers.
With the minutes ebbing away the game remained precariously balanced, but it was still Rangers who looked by far the likelier to extend their lead. A long Amoruso free-kick in 82 minutes found De Boer, who laid a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Ricksen, his drive being parried by Moilanen. McCann was first to the rebound, but his cutback fell behind the inrushing Claudio Caniggia.
Sixty seconds later another Ricksen drive from a McCann corner was inches over, then the Hearts defence was almost caught napping by another long free-kick from Amoruso, Caniggia beating Moilanen to the ball only for his effort to drift wide.
The Edinburgh side made one last throw of the dice in an attempt to force extra-time, but Klos comfortably held Valois’ drive from a Scott Severin throw-in.
Rangers however finished on the attack – Caniggia’s cross finding De Boer whose lay-off was blasted just wide by Ferguson.
Manager Alex McLeish afterwards expressed his satisfaction at the result:
"We started well, and the most important fact is that we are in the final. I am totally indifferent as to who our opponents in the final might be."
RANGERS Klos; Ross, Moore, Amoruso, Numan; Ricksen, Ferguson, Arteta, McCann; Mols (Caniggia 72), De Boer
UNUSED SUBS Malcolm, Bonnissel, Arveladze, McGregor
HEARTS Moilanen; Maybury, Pressley, Webster, Mahe (Kirk 85); Severin, MacFarlane, Stamp (McKenna 65), Valois; Wales, De Vries
UNUSED SUBS McCann, Boyack, Gordon
REFEREE Mike McCurry