RANGERS were held to a goalless draw in their difficult William Hill Premiership opener against Hearts at Tynecastle today – handing champions Celtic the chance to go two points clear of them tomorrow.
The Ibrox club’s pre-season form – they had lost to Ajax, Manchester United and Birmingham City and drawn with Union Berlin – had suggested they might struggle when competitive action resumed.
Philippe Clement’s charges proved unable to raise their performance levels when they squared up to Steven Naismith’s men in the first league match of the 2024/25 campaign in Edinburgh.
Hearts dominated the opening exchanges but were unable to convert any of the scoring opportunities they created up front – Rangers were better after half-time but lacked a cutting edge in attack.
Here are five talking points from the encounter.
Room for improvement Rangers
This has been a busy summer of transfer activity down Govan way. No fewer than eight new players have arrived as nine have departed. But only two of them, Connor Barron and Oscar Cortes, were in the side as Rangers took to the field this afternoon. Vaclav Cerny, Jefte and Liam Kelly were named among the substitutes.
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Clement admitted during a pre-match interview with BBC Radio Scotland that his squad was “probably not better” than it had been last season. Will the loss of mainstays like Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson, Ryan Jack and John Lundstram be keenly felt by him in coming months?
Barron was industrious alongside Mohamed Diomande in the middle of the park and Cortes put in a powerful shift on the left wing while he was involved. But Rangers were cut open on numerous occasions at the back and were ineffectual in attack during the first-half.
Cyriel Dessers headed onto the underside of the crossbar after being supplied by Ridvan Yilmaz early in the second-half. Rangers, though, will have to perform far, far better than this going forward if they want to challenge Celtic for the Scottish title. They lacked inspiration.
A guy called Gerald
Hearts fielded a much-changed team from the one which drew 3-3 with Rangers at home on the final day of last term back in May – Yan Dhanda, James Penrice and Gerald Taylor slotted in to their starting line-up at playmaker, left-back and right-back respectively,
Elsewhere, Daniel Oyegoke, Blair Spittal and Malachi Boateng, the defensive midfielder who completed his move from Crystal Palace in the morning, were named on the bench.
Would the new recruits help make the capital outfit, who were comfortably the best of the rest outside of the Old Firm in the Scottish top flight last term, an even more formidable force?
Hearts’ pre-season outings had not filled their followers with confidence either. They had lost to Leyton Orient, Spurs and Fleetwood Town in the build-up to their league opener. Still, there was not an empty seat in the Gorgie ground as hostilities commenced.
The Jambos who were in attendance were not slow to show their appreciation of Taylor. The Deportivo Saprissa loanee, who represented his native Costa Rica in the Copa America in the United States this summer, dealt comfortably with the threat which Cortes and Ridvan Yilmaz posed down his flank and was dangerous going forward.
He made a powerful break down the right early in the first-half, shrugged off the attentions of several players effortlessly and squared to Lawrence Shankland inside him. His skipper was unfortunate that his attempt was deflected wide for a corner. That was very much the story of Hearts' afternoon.
Taylor was a deserved recipient of the Man of the Match award after the final whistle. It promises to be the first of many.
Super Jack Butland
The former England internationalist was the outstanding Rangers player by some distance last season. Yes, he could and should have done better for the last-minute winner that Celtic scored in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden. But that was a rare, if costly, error.
The man who many felt should have been involved with his national squad at the Euro 2024 finals in Germany this summer, very much picked up where he left off today. He was equal to a Shankland volley early on and pushed a Penrice effort past his post shortly after that.
His opposite number Zander Clark, who was at the Euros with Scotland but did not feature, was in fine form too. He palmed a long-range Barron shot wide, rose and plucked a Yilmaz corner out of the air, was well-placed to block a Cyriel Dessers attempt and tipped a Tom Lawrence effort over.
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But when Butland denied Shankland with 20 minutes remaining after the striker had been teed up by Barrie McKay it effectively ensured Rangers picked up a point for their efforts.
Penalty call
It took less than 45 minutes for the first major refereeing controversy of the new season to arrive. The Hearts players, fans and manager were convinced that Nick Walsh should have awarded them a penalty in the first-half when Barron handled a Dhanda cross into the Rangers area.
Replays showed that the ball had struck the midfielder’s arm. However, referee Walsh probably made the correct call due to the close proximity of the offending player to his opponent. He had made a reflex action to protect his face so no spot kick could be given.
Injury blow
The visitors’ hopes of recording a victory suffered a setback early in the second-half when Cortes hobbled off injured. The Colombian, who spent much of his loan spell in Scotland last season on the sidelines, was replaced by Rabbi Matondo and the Welshman.
But the loss of the winger, who was making his first appearance since February, is the last thing Clement needs ahead of the Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv in Poland on Tuesday night.
On the plus side, Cerny came on to make his debut when he took over from Scott Wright. The Czech Republic internationalist was unable to provide the spark in the final third which his new side desperately needed. Still, he looked comfortable in his surroundings and had some good moments.
