Gers Have One Hand on Championship

Rangers moved a step closer to lifting the League Championship after a 2-0 win against Hearts at Ibrox this afternoon. The win extends Rangers’ lead at the top of the Premier League to 11 points and a win against Hibernian next weekend would be enough to secure a record 53rd Championship.

Lafferty scored his second goal in consecutive games at Ibrox

Kris Boyd was restored back to the Rangers starting eleven amidst speculation that he has already agreed a move to Birmingham. Kyle Lafferty continued in the side at left-midfield while Kevin Thomson replaced Maurice Edu in the centre of midfield. The Jambos lined up close to a 4-5-1 with Santana the furthest forward player most of the match and Ugandan David Obua supporting. Jim Jefferies moved youngster Craig Thomson from regular right-back position to right-midfield.

The first-half was a really scrapp affair – I’ve lost count how many times I’ve said this. Hearts seemed more hungry and Rangers didn’t even look like a side close to winning a title at times. It was also incredibly frustrating as Rangers persisted with playing through the centre of the pitch despite 5 central midfielders scrapping for every 2nd ball. Kevin Thomson had a great start to the game and won several challenges in the midfield. Bougherra was producing his usual runs and provided a top-class performance throughout the 90 minutes. At times, the Algerian was covering every blade of grass and doing other players’ jobs.

The Champions were much much better in the second-half and Walter Smith’s team-talk would have given a few players a kick up the ass. The breakthrough came just 9 minutes after half-time when Kevin Thomson’s near-post corner was glanced towards goal by Kyle Lafferty and the ball crashed into the roof of the net with Jamie MacDonald beaten. There weren’t many clear cut chances in the 90 minutes, very little infact, but both sides were culpable of being sloppy in possession and the final ball was very poor at times, especially from the opposition. Kevin Thomson produced a stunning left-foot effort which hit the top of the crossbar and left the keeper beaten.

However, it took Rangers another 30 minutes after the opening goal to kill off the game when Steven Naismith was blatantly shoved by Icelandic defender Eggert Jonsson, who was shown a straight red card by Iain Brines. Miller stepped up after fierce competition from Nacho Novo and the ever-confident Madjid Bougherra but the former Hibs striker fired the ball into the top corner after a touch from the Hearts goalkeeper. Ibrox then became a different place with “Championees” being belted out across the stadium as the Gers moved a step closer to the title.