Hearts 1-3 Rangers
Shankland (pen 82) Tavernier (50, pen 64)
Wright (55)
By Callum McFadden at Hampden Park.
Phillipe Clement will lead Rangers out against Aberdeen in next month’s Scottish League Cup final after his side comfortably defeated Heart of Midlothian at Hampden Park.
Both sides battled across the midfield in the opening quarter of an hour before Rangers grew in confidence and momentum.
Todd Cantwell and Danilo linked up several times and each of them tested the palms of Zander Clark in the Hearts goal.
Throughout the first half, Hearts looked dangerous on the counter attack particularly when Kenneth Vargas was brought into the game.
However, neither side were clinical enough to force a breakthrough before halftime.
Phillipe Clement then made one change at halftime as Todd Cantwell was replaced by Scott Wright.
Upon the restart, the Belgian did not have to wait long until his side forced an opener as captain James Tavernier scored from the penalty spot in the 50th minute after Zander Clark brought Danilo down in the penalty area.
Hearts almost responded immediately with their first attack after the game restarted when Jorge Grant crossed for Frankie Kent who saw a powerful header knocked behind for a corner by Jack Butland.
That missed opportunity proved costly as substitute Scott Wright doubled Rangers advantage in the 55th minute with a well-placed finish to the left of Zander Clark following an assist from Danilo.
Despite that further setback, Hearts continued to push forward and on the cusp of the hour mark, Stephen Kingsley saw a curling effort from the edge of Rangers box tipped over the bar by Jack Butland.
Unfortunately for the Jambos, any hope that they had of getting back into the game was extinguished in the 64th minute when Kye Rowles fouled Scott Wright on the edge of the Hearts penalty area to give Rangers a free kick that James Tavernier then rifled into the top right-hand corner of the net past a helpless Zander Clark.
Rangers in full control, pushed forward looking for a fourth goal but it was Hearts who were next on the scoresheet when Stephen Kingsley was brought down in the Rangers penalty area.
Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland smashed home the spot kick in the 82nd minute to give Hearts a late lifetime.
Ultimately, Shankland’s goal proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal as Rangers sealed a place in the League Cup final against Aberdeen on December 17th.
WFi player of the match: James Tavernier (Rangers) – two goals for the Rangers captain were crucial to sealing the victory today.
Hearts: Clark, Kent, Kingsley, Baningime (Devlin, 73), Grant (Oda, 61), Nieuwenhof (Denholm, 86), Shankland, Rowles, Cochrane, Sibbick (Forrest, 61), Vargas (Boyce, 73)
Substitutes: McGovern, Haring, Boyce, Oda, Devlin, Halliday, Forrest, Denholm, Forrester
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier (Sterling, 90+6), Goldson, Balogun,(Davies, 77) Barisic, Jack, Lundstram, Lammers (Lawrence, 77), Cantwell (Wright, 45), Sima, Danilo (Dessers, 77)
Substitutes: McCrorie, Yilmaz, Dessers, Lawrence, Cifuentes, Sterling, Wright, Davies, McCausland
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