Dujon Sterling, Ridvan Yilmaz immense, Nico Raskin flops – Rangers player ratings v Hearts
Rangers destroyed an in-form Hearts side 5-0 to go five points clear of Celtic at the top of the table on a day when numerous players were outstanding.
The Light Blues got off the perfect start on 24 February as Oscar Cortes found fellow January signing Mohamed Diomande to fire the opener in low from distance in the second minute, but it took until the 37th minute for the winger to double the lead with a wonderful first-time finish to open his Gers account, after good work from Dujon Sterling and Tom Lawrence.
From there Philippe Clement’s side blew the visitors away and Cyriel Dessers turned in a third before the break from an excellent John Souttar ball, then smashed home his second, eventually, as soon as the second half began after a similarly-wonderful Sterling cross, before substitute Fabio Silva added a late fifth in a stunning display.
Here, Ibrox News rates the Rangers players out of 10 for their performances against the Jam Tarts.
Rangers blow Hearts away as Cyriel Dessers finds scoring boots
Jack Butland – 7
Hardly needed to be there such was the dominance of Rangers until the game was long-over, but produced a couple of strong late saves to preserve a deserved clean sheet.
James Tavernier – 7
Appeared to not quite have a full understanding with Sterling down the right yet at times but went close with a couple of typically-threatening efforts of his own and covered well defensively. Came into his own with balls into the box as Rangers got themselves in complete control.
John Souttar – 8
Great day all-round for the Scot. Decent performance defensively in the face of little Hearts threat but produced arguably the pass of his life which even Dessers couldn’t pass up for the third goal which ended the contest.
Connor Goldson – 7
Didn’t have much more to do than pass the ball calmly across the Rangers back line in an unexpectedly relaxed game for the most part. One defensive requirement saw him put in a perfect sliding tackle in his own box on the hour to show his concentration hadn’t wavered.
Ridvan Yilmaz – 9
Excellent. Actively involved throughout but, like a lot of Rangers players, was wayward with his passing for a period. That ended when he swung one beauty of a cross over for Dessers, only for the striker to have wandered offside and nod it wide anyway, before driving an even better ball through the six-yard box moments later to prove his radar had switched on. Borna Barisic’s delivery has always been his primary asset but if the Turk can provide that too then the left-back spot is his to lose.
John Lundstram – 7
Comfortable game at the base of the midfield as he passed the ball around under little pressure and let the attackers and full-backs do the damage. Beautiful reverse pass to assist Silva’s goal.
Mohamed Diomande (off for Raskin ’70) – 7
Fast going about making his “huge” transfer fee a worthwhile investment with his second in two weekends as he arrowed a low shot into the bottom corner with his very first involvement. Arguably surpassed by various players afterwards but he set the ball rolling on a massive performance.
January signings Mohamed Diomande and Oscar Cortes shine at Ibrox
Dujon Sterling (off for McCausland ’56) – 10 – Man of the Match
Fantastic display from a man who appears to have everything and is increasingly looking like an absolute steal of a free transfer signing in the summer. Energetic and threatening in an advanced position as he muscled Hearts players off the ball regularly and his work produced both the second and fourth goals, as he won the ball in midfield and set Lawrence away in the first half, then whipped in a Tavernier-esque cross for Dessers’ second. If he continues to develop under Clement as he is then he could soon be undroppable.
Tom Lawrence (off for Silva ’56) – 6
Looked slightly off the pace in a slow opening and struggled to find his touch at times, but still proved to be effective and did fantastic work in the build up to the second goal as he broke forward down the right and laid it on a plate for Cortes to finish. A measure of his quality that he contributed that much when off colour, but didn’t look happy when Clement replaced him.
Oscar Cortes (off for Wright ’70) – 8
Already looks to have SPFL defenders panicked when advancing in off the left, just as he did early to then find Diomande to score, but went quiet for a short while until he doubled the lead with a perfect first-time finish into the far corner. Surely working his way towards a permanent Ibrox move.
Cyriel Dessers (off for Roofe ’79) – 8
The best and the worst of the big man up front. Exhibited the sort of dynamism that seemed impossible some months ago when he turned Kye Rowles inside his own half before a quarter of an hour and drove towards goal at speed, with only a good Zander Clark save keeping him at bay, yet missed three close-range chances while repeatedly being caught offside. Eventually bagged two welcome goals, even though the second had to survive a VAR review for handball, but on a day like this surely should have completed his hat-trick.
Substitutions
Ross McCausland (on for Sterling ’56) – 6
Didn’t quite match the sparkling displays of the starting XI.
Fabio Silva (on for Lawrence ’56) – 7
Got in on the party with a wonderful low finish not long after coming on.
Nico Raskin (on for Diomande ’70) – 4
Is clearly struggling for form currently and after looking so good last season it is hard to see what has derailed him so badly. Booked for a poor foul and he struggled to match the outstanding level of the team. Others have been through similar patches but he could struggle to get much of a look in going forward if teammates perform so well.
Scott Wright (on for Cortes ’70) – 6
No major impact off the bench.
Kemar Roofe (on for Dessers ’79) – 6
Returned to action and didn’t seem to suffer any injury issues.
In other Rangers news, a “massive” £60million game changer could now be on the way to Ibrox.
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