Trump Loving Rangers Bad Boy in Trouble Again
Rangers ane Hearts 0: Lafferty on target equally bad male child Diouf makes Ibrox bow
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Kyle Lafferty kept Rangers in the title hunt on Wednesday nighttime but even the large homo from Northern Ireland - no stranger to headlines - had to defer to a first sighting of El-Hadji Diouf.
The African dubbed The Well-nigh Hated Man in Football pulled on a lite blue jersey for the kickoff fourth dimension as an early on substitute for Lee McCulloch.
What was maybe intended by Walter Smith equally a cameo part rapidly became the chief focus of attention. Within 15 minutes of entering the fray, Diouf had been warned by referee Brian Winter, although Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas had already been booked for pulling the debutant to the deck.
On target: Lafferty scored the only goal of the game as Rangers closed the gap on rivals Celtic
Ian Black won the award for the crudest claiming on Diouf, a mistimed and ugly effort that could easily have brought red instead of the yellow carte he received.
And, late in the game, Ryan Stevenson fabricated information technology a hat-fob equally he was booked for however some other foul on the Senegalese striker.
Diouf looked a petty short of full sharpness and only showed in rare flashes a little chip of technique or step. But Rangers were grateful plenty for that. After all, Smith's side played amend at Tynecastle 10 days agone, withal lost 1-0.
Amid all the hype almost Diouf 'south arrival, they negotiated another hurdle and moved within v points of Celtic with two games in manus.
Hearts are at present five adrift of 2nd-placed Rangers with a match more played. Yet Jim Jefferies men would have travelled west in confident mood, knowing that a win would accept seen them leapfrog their hosts.
Welcome to El: Ian Blackness (left) goes in hard on Rangers new boy Diouf
They constitute a Rangers side, however, in no mood to give up the fight that easily. Celtic manager Neil Lennon had sought to apply psychological pressure on the Ibrox side after Celtic'southward win at Pittodrie - could they then stand up to the challenge?We didn't accept to wait too long to notice out.
Lafferty has been invited to take more than responsibleness on the pitch in the wake of Kenny Miller'due south sale and, just iv minutes in, he delivered a skilful finish to grab the early pb.
Credit to him later on starting the move himself, working possession in midfield and so out broad to Steven Whittaker. Continuing his run, Whittaker returned the compliment, picking out the Northern Ireland international, who despatched a right-foot volley beyond Marian Kello from 10 yards.
Hearts, of form, were aware that their concluding Glasgow had stripped ended with a four-0 humbling at Parkhead and, witting of that and the manner Rangers had dominated the midfield in Gorgie, they lined up 3-5-ii, or 3-5-1-ane in fact, with Suso Santana not always up alongside Stephen Elliott.
Jefferies didn't see fit to alter the plan in the immediate aftermath of the goal. Indeed, despite that early loss, they smothered Rangers far better - but that might say more about the Quondam Firm pair than annihilation about Hearts.
Fighting talk: Marius Zaliukas (correct) has words with the former Blackburn man
With a whiff of tension in the air, Santana did not have kindly to a linesman's conclusion non to requite Hearts a corner but he escaped activeness for his display of dissent .
Hearts midfielder Craig Thomson and then hammered into Jamie Ness and, again, there was no yellowish card. And then Rangers were forced into a modify, with McCulloch taking a knock.
Enter, and then, the man of the moment every bit Diouf took to the field. The welcome he received was warm and he immediately slotted into an attacking right-midfield role, allowing Steven Davis to move inside.
Hearts were the ones threatening now, winning the gratuitous-kick that immune Thomson to flying in a splendid delivery for Zaliukas. The Lithuanian bulleted in a header from virtually 18 yards and Allan McGregor had to brand a fine tipover relieve.
More than than recovered now from the loss of the early goal, some other Thomson brawl, whipped across the face of McGregor'south six-1000 line, troubled the Rangers keeper.
Then came Diouf 's clash with Zaliukas. Looking for a foul equally the Hearts defender challenged, referee Wintertime waved away his appeals.
By fashion of retribution, Diouf raced after his Tynecastle prey and pulled him back. It earned him a lecture from the official when others might take seen fit to offer harsher punishment.
By now the referee's pen was risking running out of ink. Santana was booked for a belatedly challenge on David Weir before Black had his name taken after he hammered into Diouf and brought him downward, to howls of fury from the Ibrox stands.
Eggert Jonsson was not far behind. Barely a minute later, he hauled back Vladimir Weiss on the run to pick upward a fourth booking for Hearts. Black did not emerge for the 2d half as Jefferies decided not to risk a carmine card.
He did exactly the aforementioned a week before at Parkhead. Kello was by far the busier of the keepers and after l minutes pulled off a fine save to stop the surging Madjid Bougherra, who had worked a skilful i-ii with Davis.
Dorsum on his defensive crush only moments later, the Algerian had to think quickly to bail out Diouf, who had gifted possession to Santana. Credit the Rangers human being for reading his opponent'southward intentions and clearing the danger.
And Diouf was once more at mistake when he pounced on a terrible passback from Zaliukas, only to dither and be crowded out by Ismael Bouzid as he sought to go the ball on to his right pes.
Welcome signs of invention from the demote came with the introduction of Steven Naismith for Rangers and Andy Commuter for Hearts. Yet neither could offer their respective sides sufficient attacking options, although Davis had the ball in the net after Kello saved from Diouf in injury-time, only the flag was up for offside.
Smith, then, volition exist delighted with the three points gathered and that his new boy escaped all the wrong type of headlines. Adjacent upward is Celtic at Ibrox on Dominicus. What chance more of the same?
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Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1353013/Rangers-1-Hearts-0-Kyle-Lafferty-target-El-Hadji-Diouf-makes-Ibrox-bow.html
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