Hearts undone by moment of magic
With John Souttar having already agreed a pre-contract move to Ibrox this summer, this was the last time that Hearts fans would see their defensive triumvirate of Souttar, Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley. Typically, they did not disappoint.
The 3-4-3 shape employed by head coach Robbie Neilson meant that Rangers’ attacking forays were always going to come down the flanks where they had the numerical advantage. Calvin Bassey, in particular, was getting a lot of joy from his overlapping runs down the left but allowing the Nigerian to do so was a calculated risk from Hearts.
They allowed the occasional delivery in because they knew the back three would greedily hoover up any crosses – and they were right. When the opening goal eventually arrived through Ryan Jack, there was little that could have been done to prevent it. Hearts opened up as they pushed for an equaliser, and a well-executed counter-attack that was finished off by Scott Wright sealed their fate.
No Plan B proves costly
Rangers’ bench was always going to be stronger than Hearts’ but it was notable that the capital club flagged as the game wore on while their opponents seemed to gather momentum. When Liam Boyce and Barrie McKay were brought off, their team’s goal threat was reduced significantly.
The players toiled in the final third and as 90 minutes approached, it was Neilson’s men who were pinned back and subjected to wave after wave of Rangers attack. They held out to secure extra-time – thanks to a superb save from Craig Gordon on Joe Aribo with a few minutes left to play – but as soon as Jack broke the deadlock after the restart, Hearts never looked like getting back into the game.
Retaining Simms must be priority
Ellis Simms might not have ended up on the scoresheet at Hampden – although he was within inches of opening the scoring on 10 minutes – but the Hearts forward can be proud of his all-action performance. The on-loan Everton striker led the line admirably, winning his fair share of aerial duels against Leon Balogun and Connor Goldson.
Simms’ combination play with Boyce will have encouraged Neilson and the Tynecastle head coach will surely be looking at extending the 21-year-old’s stay in the capital. Seven goals since arriving in Scotland during the January transfer window is a fine record, and this performance hinted that there is plenty more to come.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here