Tempers outflare football in Tynecastle

Hearts 0 Rangers 0

Hearts and Rangers battered each other mercilessly for 90 minutes in a bruising Tynecastle encounter that lacked nothing but any sign of quality finishing.

The game ended with players from both sides having to be separated in front of the tunnel as tempers flared for the umpteenth time.

Both sides squandered late chances and the result leaves Rangers trailing seven points behind leaders Celtic after just five games.

They can now be found in fourth place – below Aberdeen and Kilmarnock – and without an away goal in the league.

Beforehand, the two sets of supporters had been united by a mutual loathing of Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson, who had upset the home fans by pushing through the deal to sell off Tynecastle and the visitors for banning flags.

The latest in a series of post-match demonstrations had been planned by the locals while the game began with Rangers fans defiantly waving smuggled Union Jacks.

Once the game kicked off, that empathy instantly disappeared though and referee Dougie McDonald quickly realised he had a job on his hands as both sides tore into each other.

The free-kick count was relentless yet the official still managed to anger on-lookers when he decided play should continue.

The first instance of that was when Mark de Vries, playing his first game of the season for Hearts, went down under a challenge from the recalled Maurice Ross when it looked like the big Dutchman would canter clear.

That was after Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon had pulled off a smart save to keep out a 25-yarder from Paolo Vanoli, another addition to a Rangers side shorn of Alex Rae and Alan Hutton through injury.

It was Stefan Klos in the Rangers goal who was next called upon to save his side to deny De Vries after Partick Kisnorbo had set him up in the box with a header forward.

Another play-on decision went Rangers’ way when Craig Moore and Graham Weir clashed just outside the box but Hearts were relieved when within seconds skipper Steven Pressley had survived two shouts for use of arm in the box.

Chris Burke, who was back in the side for the first time since fainting in the opening game of the season, sent a low drive wide but it was not long before Ross had to head away in front of his goal to stop Joe Hamill stealing in at the back post.

De Vries was giving Jean-Alain Boumsong all sorts of problems but Rangers came close again when Nacho Novo dived to head a free-kick just wide at the back post, although the flag was up anyway.

Pressley, who had recovered from the back injury that forced him to miss Scotland’s last two internationals, was the first to be booked for a 39th-minute flattening of Vanoli as the Italian charged towards the box.

The restart was delayed while groundstaff frantically tried to pop hundreds of black balloons that had been sent on to the pitch by protesting home fans.

Kisnorbo rose above fellow Australian Moore to head a free-kick just over as the home side made the stronger start.

Nacho Novo had been kept quiet for most of the game and could only chest a bouncing delivery into the box into Gordon’s grateful arms.

Novo was substituted in the 55th minute by Shota Arveladze after Alan Maybury had been booked for tripping Burke on the run.

Ross was booked in the 56th minute for felling Maybury, with the home fans baying for a straight red after angry Hearts players had surrounded the full back.

When De Vries’s lack of match-fitness began to show he was replaced by Neil Janczyk just after the hour mark.

Arveladze should have headed Rangers ahead in the 67th minute when Burke picked him out in the six-yard box with a perfect delivery from the right but the Georgian somehow headed across goal and wastefully wide.

It had been Rangers’ best chance of a game that was still littered by free-kicks and two minutes later Prso and Vanoli were replaced by Steven Thompson and Peter Lovenkrands.

Thompson was promptly booked for flattening Robbie Nielson into the Tynecastle turf.

Dragan Mladenovic had been quiet after a strong start but produced the pass of the game to send Burke away down the right.

The cross came in but Nielson was brave and headed behind from virtually under his own crossbar.

Fernando Ricksen’s poor pass allowed Weir to test Klos but the German was equal to the task.

Arveladze blasted over from distance when he had time to measure his shot as it became clear that whatever these teams carried on doing to each other, a goal would not be one of the results.

Paul Hartley proved that at the death when he headed over with only Klos to beat having lost the Rangers defence with a run to meet a perfect Maybury delivery.