Match Review: Hearts 1-2 Rangers

There's nothing better than a last minute win.

Sure, the 90 minutes preceding it are absolute torture, but the sheer joy and relief of securing the 3 points at the last second, knowing the opponent has no time to reply, is a brilliant feeling.

As Naismith turned his man and let off the shot, I think I let off a cry of joy that will have my flat in Aberdeen targeted for weeks. It was a fantastic end to a game we really should have put to bed earlier, and let our somewhat dodgy defence off the hook again.

We had started the game really well, with a high tempo and Naisy in particular was standing out well. We were fired a warning when Elliot looked to have been put through by a simple headed on long ball, and we didn't heed it as minutes later the exact same thing happened again. Kevin Kyle headed on a long ball, Weir was drawn to Kyle and couln't recover, Bougherra was nowhere, and Whitakker was too far over to the right. He put in a pretty meek challenge as Skacel raced through, got a lucky bobble off McGregor and stuck it into an empty net. All round poor defending, and very reminiscent of the goals we conceded at Pittodrie, after controlling the opening section of that match as well.

Still, Hearts sat back following their goal and we looked comfortable on the ball in the middle of the park, and to be honest I thought we would get back into the match quite easily - I thought the goal would come quickly. It never did. Kyle should have put Hearts further in front just after half time, but Hearts rarely threatened. Rangers were pushing forward well and Kello made several outstanding saves - one from an acrobatical Jelavic strike and another which he tipped onto the both from a Davis effort come to mind - before the break through was finally made.

Jelavic had been crudely hacked down by Ian Black, who had no intention of playing the ball, and was forced to come off late in the second half. On came Kyle Lafferty. It was the Ulster Gazelle who made the difference, curling a low free kick round a poorly constructed Hearts wall and into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Game on.

With 10 minutes left to play, it was the expectation that Rangers would camp out in Hearts' half, yet it didn't really pan out that way. Hearts looked better after conceding than they had done for much of the match for me, and Kyle's poor finishing again proved detrimental to the Jambo cause, firing a bullet header over the bar when he really should have burst the net. It was a moment of magic from Naisy that secured the victory, shimmying round a defender and finding the bottom corner - via a hand from the unlucky Kello. Cue wild celebrations from the bench, Walter nearly falling over in his joy. It's great to see how much it really means to the players, coaching staff and fans alike, and it's the togetherness in the camp that makes me believe we can retain the League trophy this season.

Naismith is one player in particular I've been really impressed with this season. If it wasn't for Miller's goalscoring feats slightly overshadowing him, I think he'd have picked up some personal awards too. He finally looks to be fulfilling the potential that we paid £2m for a few years back. Hopefully his injury problems are well in the past, and he can kick on from this great start. He's one of the first names on the teamsheet now for me.

On to the negatives - the defence is a real worry. Bougherra looked brilliant midweek, yet his SPL performances seem to lack concentration. Hopefully he can get his head screwed on properly, with a finally fit (I think?) Webster waiting in the wings for his chance. Vladimir Weiss also had a pretty poor performance, struggling to beat his man and making poor decisions. I think he's shown enough in the past to ease the criticism though, and anyone can have a bad game.

Overall a fantastic win, despite the lurking shadow of the "European Hangover", and I wasn't too far off with my prediction! It's a shame Celtic won too, it looks as if the Old Firm games will be even more crucial this season.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Match Preview: Hearts vs Rangers

Rangers travel through to Edinburgh tomorrow, a mere 2 1/2 days after the victory against Bursaspor, to play Hearts in an early Saturday kick off - 12pm to be precise. If you can't make it to the game, ESPN are showing it, and their coverage starts at 11.30am.

Although Hearts aren't on a great run of form - they've not won at home in the SPL this season - this will be a difficult match for our boys. It's not long since our victory against Bursaspor in the Champions League (worth mentioning again I feel!) and league matches following Euro games are notorious for throwing up bad performances - the dreaded "European hangover". I'm confident however that going into this game on the back of a victory in Europe (for a change), and a rousing pre match speech from Sir Walter, will see the lads fired up enough to bring back the points.

Hearts have a few injuries to contend with, Wallace and Driver being the biggest names that won't feature. Elliot, Templeton and Santana are doubts, but we know that means they'll probably end up playing anyway.

As for the Rangers, various news sites are reporting the Boogie and Broadfoot are both doubts, although I suspect that Madjid will feature if it's nothing too serious. Walter will most likely freshen up the squad from Wednesday's line up a bit, and I expect Jelavic to come in for one of the defenders (Broadfoot), and Weiss to come in for one of the centre midfielders (Edu). A 4-4-2 should be effective enough against Hearts, although we've seen Hamilton out fight the midfield already this season so who knows.

Indeed, Walter has mentioned the importance of carrying over European form to the SPL, on the official website:

"I think it can happen that you can take the higher level in the Champions League back in to the SPL and I would hope that's what would happen.

"I felt in the first three or four games we were slow to get going but that has got better and I'm hoping the involvement in the Champions League and the confidence from performing well there will help us continue in that vein.

"We have seen from the start of the season that there is not going to be much margin for error for us this year so it is important that we maintain the momentum.

"We have had to work hard for the results we have got and there have been good games and tight games along the way.

"So we know that we have to maintain that level because it seems we won't be able to drop too many points this season."

Let's hope he's right, and we can put Celtic under some pressure by winning before they kick off.

WATP

Rangers 24-7 Prediction: Hearts 0-2 Rangers