Sam Lammers and Ridvan Yilmaz miserable, Todd Cantwell best of bad bunch – Rangers player ratings vs Hearts
Philippe Clement’s Rangers got out of jail after they were largely abject before rescuing a late, late 2-1 victory at home to Hearts.
The game got off to a terrible start for the Light Blues as Lawrence Shankland, mooted as a possible January target for the new manager, directed a header home in the opening minutes, and despite Todd Cantwell winning a penalty in added time of a miserable first-half performance James Tavernier hit the post.
Hearts stacked men behind the ball in the second half as Rangers strained to make inroads until they were awarded another penalty late on for a shirt-pull on Connor Goldson and this time Tavernier scored, before the captain swung in a cross for Danilo to head in a winner deep into added time.
Here Ibrox News rates the Rangers players out of 10 for their performances at Ibrox.
Jack Butland – 6
Won’t have been delighted to let Shankland’s early header loop over him even if it was a high-quality finish. Did what was necessary for the rest of the opening half before becoming a spectator after the break.
James Tavernier – 6
Rescued his and his side’s day with a late equaliser and assist for the winner. Had a very poor performance prior to that as he didn’t close down the cross tightly enough in the opening minutes as Hearts took the lead, and then squandered the chance to level right before the break as he hit the post with a penalty as part of a miserable first-half. Struggled to get it right with crosses throughout the afternoon but credit for stepping up a second time under pressure and then finally getting one ball from wide right for Danilo’s goal.
Connor Goldson – 6
Not the issue today. Gave away a needless corner as he looked rattled in the first half before his header was inches from going over the line when diverted by Dessers before Shankland cleared. Won the second penalty to get his side out of jail.
Ben Davies – 6
Nothing afternoon. Hardly central to the action when his side were struggling in the first half and barely involved after the break.
Ridvan Yilmaz – 4
Terrible start as he was caught under the ball as Shankland headed in the early opener. Looked busy in trying to respond and was a regular outlet down the left flank, but his crossing had nowhere near the threat of Borna Barisic’s. Lack of presence in the air was shown up more than once. Supposed to be the man to finally shift the Croatian from the side but didn’t look like it today.
John Lundstram – 6
Not great but at least he was involved. Booked for clumsily halting a Hearts attack amid a chaotic Rangers first half and although he saw a lot of the ball after the break he didn’t do a huge amount with it. Had a few long-range shots that weren’t overly threatening.
Nico Raskin (off for Wright ’63) – 6
A worry. Relatively neat and tidy on the ball but looked to pick up a fairly serious problem as he fired a chance narrowly the wrong side of the post just inside the hour. Yet another potential absentee for injury–plagued Rangers as he was stretchered off.
Todd Cantwell (off for McCausland ’76) – 7 (Man of the Match)
Best of a bad bunch. Amid a dismal Rangers display he was arguably the only man to have much of a positive impact. Looked to have dragged a terrible first-half out of the gutter when he was felled for a penalty late in added time, only for his captain to miss. Busy and looked more likely than most of his teammates to create something in the second half, although wasn’t especially incisive. Major surprise that he was taken off.
Sam Lammers (off for Jack ’83) – 2
Really struggling. Actually looked fairly sharp on the ball to start and played some nice passes, but it didn’t last long as he reverted to type. Play largely bypassed him far too regularly, including at times when his teammates appeared to be ignoring him as an option. Never looked like being part of a fightback as he appeared to come off second best in duals against opponents. Missed a decent chance inside the six-yard box after the break.
Abdallah Sima – 5
Disappointing. Has looked the only real dynamic force in the Rangers attack at times in recent weeks but didn’t have much of an impact at all off the left.
Cyriel Dessers (off for Danilo ’46) – 6
Another frustrating afternoon for the striker. Showed nice composure early to slide an inviting ball across the six yard box that Cantwell couldn’t force home and was so close to equalising midway through the half but saw Shankland clear off the line as luck deserted him once more, but at least went close to scoring. Made to look all the more ineffectual by the performance of his opposite number.
Substitutions
Danilo (on for Dessers ’46) – 7
Directed one near-post header over from a corner but was arguably less involved than Dessers had been until Tavernier’s cross found him at the death to nod home. Not a good all-round performance but made the key contribution when it mattered.
Scott Wright (on for Nico Raskin ’63) – 5
Very little impact.
Ross McCausland (on for Cantwell ’76) – 6
Put himself about and got on the ball more than various teammates.
Ryan Jack (on for Lammers ’83) – N/A
In other Rangers news, one man didn’t want to leave the club this summer and was “really emotional” as he was sent packing.