A MOMENT of magic by Ryan Kent and a fine finish by Malik Tillman
eased some of the pressure on Giovanni van Bronckhorst as his Rangers
side claimed a 1-0 win over Hearts.
Gers were booed off at the interval after failing to make several first-half
chances count at Ibrox.
But Kent – who had struggled to make an impact – burst into life in the
66th minute when he jinked past three Hearts players and played in
Borna Barisic, who laid the ball on a plate for Tillman to steer it beyond
Jambos keeper Craig Gordon.
Hearts had the first chance after five minutes when Robert Snodgrass
sent Josh Ginnelly scampering toward goal with a 50-yard pass but Gers
keeper Allan McGregor blocked and Ben Davies cleared the danger.
John Lundstram should have put the home side ahead after 18 minutes
following good work by James Sands and Antonio Colak but the midfielder
failed to hit the target.
Colak was twice denied by Gordon within a matter of minutes before
half-time and the Scotland No.1 got down low to turn a Tillman effort
away for a corner after the break.
Colak sent an ambitious overhead kick wide and forced another save
from Gordon before Tillman struck.
The win kept the Ibrox side seven points behind rivals Celtic and van
Bronckhorst is looking for victory over St Mirren on Saturday in their
last game before the break.
He said: ‘I’m happy for the team and club that we got three points.
‘It’s important to finish with a win. Then five weeks until we play our first
game after the break.
‘We can rest and recover and prepare for the second phase. Hopefully
we get some players back from injury, and start fresh again against Hibs.’
