Rangers 5 Hearts 0 LIVE as Fabio Silva hits a fifth for rampant league leaders

The Wolves loanee is unlucky not to grab a brace.

The striker connects well with another ball over the top but sees his shot from a tight angle saved well by Clark.

Space has opened up for Hearts in this second half and they have fashioned a couple of decent chances for a consolation goal.

Sub Kyosuke Tagawa is next to try his luck but Butland is alert to tip his curling effort from distance wide.

The Jamaica international is on for the last 10 minutes, replacing Dessers.

It’s been an injury hit couple of years for the former Anderlecht man, who will be desperate to play a part in his side’s surge towards a domestic treble.

To his surprise, Jambos skipper Shankland is subsituted with Charlton loanee Scott Fraser coming on.

The substitutions have slowed down the Rangers momentum, but the hosts look set to claim another clean sheet to give them an even more superior goal difference over Celtic.

As it stands, the Light Blues will register a goal difference of +48 compared to the Hoops’ +40, on top of their five point advantage.

Scott Wright and Nicolas Raskin have taken the place of goalscorers Diomande and Cortes, who depart the field to huge applause from the Ibrox crowd.

Moments before the Jambos almost bagged a consolation, with talisman Shankland seeing an effort come back off the post.

There might not be too many complaints from Hearts fans given how they will be feeling right now but sporting director Joe Savage is reportedly being targeted by English Premier League clubs. READ MORE

The number nine has been in the thick of the action again today and will be wondering how he hasn’t netted a hat trick.

Tavernier bursts into the area down the right and cuts it back but Dessers is caught on his heels inside the six yard box.

Clement has called on his replacements, with Ross McCausland and Fabio Silva coming on for Lawrence and Sterling.

With a trip to Kilmarnock just four days away, the Belgian boss is keen to keep his squad fresh.

The hosts struggle to clear their lines from a Hearts set piece, but Peru international Kenneth Vargas can’t get his left footed volley on target.

Gers stopper Butland will be desperate to claim his 22nd clean sheet of the campaign.

Rangers have a perfect chance to pille the pressure on nearest challengers Celtic in the Premiership title race – and they have duly delivered so far this afternoon.

Clement’s side have been blistering in attack and keeper Jack Butland has been a bystander at the other end of the pitch.

What was I saying earlier about the new signings? That’s a goal each for them now – an assist and a goal for Cortes. But while the two new boys are on the scoresheet one player who looked to be on his way OUT in January but opted to stay is really tearing it up here. Ridvan Yilmaz was heavily linked with an exit but the former Besiktas man is in sizzling form here and there’s no doubt he’s made that left back spot his own.

The Jambos got off to a nightmare start but are starting to improve as the half is wearing on.

Baningime has been sharp and has been able to get his team going with his ability to pounce on loose balls and recycle posession.

The importance of the January transfer window was talked about with Rangers and Celtic scrapping it out at the top going into the winter break. And it was two of Rangers’ signings who combined for the goal that has them in front with Oscar Cortes setting up Mohamed Diomande. Could those two pieces of business be the difference in the title race?

The Gers number nine has squandered a huge opportunity to double his side’s lead.

The forward is picked out by a superb cross from Ridvan Yilmaz, only to head the ball wide of the goal with Jambos stopper Clark rooted to the spot.

Hearts are finally able to string a few passes together and momentarily looked like they were going to get a shot away inside the area.

However Goldson and Souttar are quickly able to get out and block an attempted strike from Shankland who has been a peripheral figure so far.

Naismith’s men have been in brilliant form going into today’s match but have been found wanting in defensive situations already.

The movement of Sterling and Cortes off the flanks has given them huge problems a long with goalscorer Diomande’s ability to drive forward from midfield.

The Light Blues are not letting up.

John Lundstram’s cross is not properly cleared and skipper James Tavernier forces Clark into a fine stop with a rasping effort from the edge of the box.

The Nigeria international spins away from Kye Rowles before driving into the boxing.

The striker cuts inside and gets a shot off, which is saved by Zander Clark and then quickly hacked away with Tom Lawrence waiting for a tap in on the rebound.

The Gers know they can open up a five-point gap at the top of the table ahead of Celtic’s clash with Motherwell tomorrow.

And Clement’s charges have wasted no time in piling the pressure on the Jambos, with wingers Cortes and Sterling already looking lively. Cortes’ assist for Diomande’s opener was his second since his January loan switch from RC Lens.

Prior to kick off, there was a minute’s applause in tribute to Ian McMillan who passed away recently.

Philippe Clement confirms to Rangers TV that Dujon Sterling will start on the right as he gives Ross McCausland a break and the Belgian expects a tough one.

Hearts are doing a good job at the moment and come here with confidence, so we need to try and break that confidence. We want to do it at the beginning of the game and as fast as possible, but it is never a guarantee. We need to keep on pushing to break their wall and to win the game.

The Jambos skipper wasn’t on target in his side’s 1-0 loss to Rangers in December, but has found the net in three of the last four meetings between the two sides.

The Scotland international’s 18 Premiership strikes have him way out in front in the race for the league’s golden boot, with bosses at Tynecastle desperate for the 28-year-old to extend his stay with the club.

The former Chelsea youngster makes just his sixth start of the season since his arrival in Govan last summer.

The 24-year-old has recently returned from a suspension after getting sent off against Aberdeen earlier this month and has spoken about the dismissal, deeming it as “harsh”.

Read the full story below.

It’s five-and-a-half years since Connor Goldson made his first start under the Steven Gerrard revolution

That was the first of 299 appearances for Goldson and he remains just as vital to Philippe Clement’s modern-day troupe as he was when Gerrard was choreographing a new routine for a club majorly out of step with Brendan Rodgers’ double-treble winning outfit back in 2018.

Now the Englishman has been handed appearance No.300 by Philippe Clement against Hearts.

The Nigerian international was snapped wearing a mask in training yesterday after suffering a facial injury in Rangers win against Livingston last weekend.

Will be preferred to John Souttar alongside mainstay Connor Goldson at the heart of the Gers back line today?

Whistler Nick Walsh will take charge of this afternoon’s clash at Ibrox.

Walsh has shown 115 yellow cards and four red cards in his 25 games so far this season, one of which was shown to Leon Balogun in Rangers’ 2-1 defeat to Celtic before the turn of the year.

BitcoinCasinos.com are offering odds on today’s fixture as well as who will go onto claim the Premiership title in May.

BitcoinCasinos.com: Rangers vs Hearts match odds

Rangers – 1/4

Draw – 19/4

Hearts – 17/2

BitcoinCasinos.com: 2023/24 Scottish Premiership winner

Rangers – 1/2

Celtic – 6/4

A goal from Abdallah Sima on the brink of half time was enough to claim the three points for Rangers in their game against Hearts at Tynecastle on December 6.

It was their 10th victory in the last 10 matches against the men from Gorgie, who had gone into the game off the back of four consecutive wins in the Premiership.

Jambos boss Naismith has been full of praise of his opposite number in the dugout today but is quietly confident that his team can disrupt Clement and the Light Blues’ title charge.

He said:

We’ve come up against his Rangers side three times and he has been a good, older manager for someone like myself. He’s approachable, gives you the time and speaks to you. For any young manager that’s gold. There’s so much value in it.

His teams show his character. That’s for us to deal with and to think about how we can hurt them. It will be tough, they are in form and the manager has definitely come in and put his marker on everything.

You see that in their performances, how he deals with players, how honest he is. That’s the type of manager you need at a club like Rangers. That’s why the results have been so good.

We know what we will face but for us it’s about continuing what we’ve done. How we focus on every game. That’s how we believe we will get a result.

READ MORE

In his latest column for Record Sport, Treble-winning captain Barry Ferguson had a three-word working for Rangers and says they need to grab the title so tight their fingers bleed.

I’ve got three words for them now that Celtic are in the rear view mirror – beware the backlash – because that’s exactly what’s coming. Don’t think for a second that Celtic will just wave you off over the horizon towards the title, wishing you all the best.

You have to believe they’re coming after you with a fire in their belly. You have to know how badly they want to bring you down and take it all away. Look, I’ve not been privy to the conversations that have been going on inside Celtic’s training ground this week. But I’ll have a good guess.

There will have been a lot of straight talking and a lot of angry men. Guys like Callum McGregor, Joe Hart and Cameron Carter-Vickers won’t take any of this lying down. And Rangers would be making a huge mistake if they expect anything other than a stinging Celtic response to being knocked off their perch.

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Philippe Clement knows the danger posed by Hearts’ 25-goal hitman Lawrence Shankland but the Rangers boss won’t focus only on the Jambos striker. And he explained a very good reason for that.

It is important, he has scored more than 50 per cent of Hearts’ goals. That is a lot of points if you look at the season. It is not only to be focused on Shankland and forget the rest, because then there will be other guys who make the difference. We never go into games thinking about one player.

“I was with Monaco last year against Messi, Neymar and Mbappe in the same PSG team, but we were not focused on them. We were focused on our way, how we need to play and how we need to stop them, but using them also to attack.

That worked in a good way. It is always my philosophy to be more focused on ourselves. For us it will be to break open that wall, to be dominant but not be naive, and not to get transitions, not to get set-pieces because Hearts are strong in that also.

And play our normal game with our fantastic fans behind us in Ibrox. That is also a major thing that gave a lot of energy in the last couple of games.

The Record Sport team sat down earlier this week to discuss all the big talking points from Ibrox in the latest Record Rangers podcast.

There is no Todd Cantwell and that is a huge blow with the former Norwich City man out for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury. But Philippe Clement has done well to adjust when losing key players. Who will the Belgian call upon today? READ MORE

Hello and welcome. The sun is shining on the south side of Glasgow and it’s a huge afternoon for these two sides.