20th October 2019 Hearts v Rangers 1-1

Third game of the weekend with Hearts clash with Rangers having been moved to Sunday for television coverage. Rangers now head the SPL tale ahead of Celtic and given Hearts form so far this season i was not confident about them getting a result from this game. Undaunted however I left the flat at 11.25 to walk down to Tynecastle for the 12.15 kick-off. I arrived at the ground around 11.50 and took my seat in the Main Stand. Eric arrived shortly thereafter and we had a chat. We were both apprehensive about the game but settled down to watch as the sides came out. 

Hearts made three changes from the side that lost to Kilmarnock before the international break. Uche Ikpeazu returned as main striker, Oliver Bozanic made his first league start of the season in midfield and Aidy White came in at left-back. From the Kilmarnock side Clevid Dikamona and Andy Irving dropped to the bench and Loic Damour missed out due to an injury. There had be talk in the newspapers that Peter Haring and Jamie Walker would be back for this fixture but neither was included in the match day squad. Rangers fielded Alfredo Morelos at centre forward with Jermaine Defoe on the bench. The strength of the Rangers squad could be seen that Greg Stewart, who scored two goals against Aberdeen before the international break and Ryan Kent, a seven million pound signing from Liverpool, were both on the bench. 

Hearts started well and in the second minute Sean Clare was set free on the right. He sent in a good cross towards Uche Ikpeazu. The centre forward got his head to the ball and it crashed of the crossbar with Allan McGregor in the Rangers goal helpless. Four minutes later Hearts went ahead after Ikpeazu flicked on a long ball. Rangers James Tavernier went to head it back to McGregor but his header fell short. Jake Mulraney rushed onto the ball but his shot was blocked by McGegor about twelve yards from goal. The ball rebounded to Ryotaro Meshino about twenty yards from goal and he it hit first time back into the net past the grounded McGregor and a despairing Connor Goldson who was running back in an attempt to block the ball. Thereafter the game was generally in midfield although Rangers central defence seemed to be wary of Ikpeazu.There was an amusing incident when Mulraney slid in to tackle Bona Barisic as he went to clear the ball near the right hand touchline. The winger missed both the ball and the defender and slid of the pitch to tackle the assistant referee who fell to the ground to laughter from the stands. McGregor was booked for complaining to the referee after he awarded a goal-kick rather than a free-kick to Rangers after Ikpeazu and Nikola Katic clashed near the bye-line. Both goalkeepers had little to do until Rangers equalised in thirty-nine minutes. A passback from Aaron Hickey went out for  corner to Rangers.Barisic’s kick was flicked on by Katic to Morelos. The striker had lost his marker and had no difficulty in scoring from inside the six yard box. I did feel however it was inappropriate that he celebrated his goal wildly in front of the Hearts fans in the Gorgie stand.

Hearts suffered a blow four minutes into the second half when White had to be substituted due to injury. He had be involved in a collision shortly before halft-ime and taken a head knock. While he wanted to continue he was suffering from headaches and had to be replaced as it may have been concussion. Jamie Brandon came on at right back with Hickey moving across to his favoured left-back position. I was a bit apprehensive about Brandon as he is inclined to be a bit rash with his challenges at times. He did however have a good game and also coped well with Kent when he came on later in in half. Hickey also had a better second half playing in his regular position. To be honest Rangers had most of the possession in the second half but Hearts defended well and the midfield players closed down their opponents well to prevent Rangers moving the ball quickly. Joel Pereira did not really have a save to make until with ten minutes to go he blocked a good header from Goldson following a free-kick on the right. The save did not count as the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. Irving came on from the injured Mulraney and had a good run from his own half. His pass released Ikpeazu who headed for the byeline. There he went past two defenders but was unable to find a Hearts player with his pass across goal. As the match moved into injury time Christophe Berra had a chance when he connected with a long throw from Bozanic. His header unfortunately went straight to McGregor in the Rangers goal.

I walked home happy after  good performance from Hearts. Defensively they were sound with the central combination of Berra and Michael Smith outstanding. The midfield was composed with Whelan showing his experience. Bozanic did well and worked hard but I was particularly please to see Clare have an excellent game. He gets a lot of criticism from fans but I think today's performance should help silence the doubters. Up front Ikpeazu had the Rangers defenders worried and this allowed Meshino and Mulraney to work well in support. Hopefully this performance will turn round Hearts season and with the injured players retuning to fitness things can only get better.

Teams

Hearts: Pereira, Smith, White, Berra, Bozanic, Clare, Mulraney, Whelan, Ikpeazu, Hickey, Meshino. 
Subs: Brandon, Maclean, Irving
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Davis, Ojo, Aribo, Kamara, Katic, Morelos , Barisic, Arfield. 
Subs: Kent, Stewart, Defoe