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By Nick McPheatBBC Scotland
Last updated on 19 minutes ago.From the section Scottish Premiership
After an eight-game drought, Rangers forward Abdallah Sima has scored three goals in his last two gamesAbdallah Sima's 12th Rangers goal ensured manager Philippe Clement's unbeaten start stretched to 11 games with a Scottish Premiership victory at Hearts.
Fresh off scoring a double against St Mirren on Sunday, the on-loan Brighton striker raced on to a defence-splitting James Tavernier pass and finished past home goalkeeper Zander Clark.
Prior to that opener, Rangers offered Hearts hope with some slack play as Lawrence Shankland forced Jack Butland into a fine near-post stop before Alex Cochrane's rebound was somehow blocked on the line by captain Tavernier.
But Clement's side improved after their goal and could have gone into the break two up when Danilo, who had an earlier finish ruled out for offside, was denied just yards out by the boot of Clark at close range.
A 10th win in 11 meetings against Hearts, who remain third, means Rangers stay eight points behind leaders Celtic with a game to spare.
Rangers ought to have killed the game by the 70th minute, but Danilo could only hit Kyosuke Tagawa on the line after Clark inexplicably spilled before Ridvan Yilmaz flashed two efforts off target either side of a close-range Connor Goldson header.
Kenneth Vargas could have made the wasteful visitors pay for their profligacy, but Butland emphasised his importance to the Ibrox side with another top save to his left.
Player of the match - Jack Butland (Rangers)
Arguably Rangers' player of the season so far, the former England keeper bailed out a wasteful attack with vital stops at vital timesLine-ups
Hearts
Formation 3-5-2
- 28Clark
- 3KingsleySubstituted forMcKayat 85'minutes
- 2Kent
- 15Rowles
- 13AtkinsonSubstituted forVargasat 45'minutesBooked at 51mins
- 8Nieuwenhof
- 6Baningime
- 7GrantSubstituted forOdaat 45'minutes
- 19CochraneBooked at 62mins
- 9Shankland
- 30TagawaSubstituted forForrestat 65'minutesBooked at 90mins
Substitutes
- 1Gordon
- 4Halkett
- 5Haring
- 11Oda
- 17Forrest
- 18McKay
- 21Sibbick
- 22Denholm
- 77Vargas
Rangers
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Butland
- 2Tavernier
- 6Goldson
- 27Balogun
- 3YilmazBooked at 69minsSubstituted forSterlingat 71'minutes
- 4Lundstram
- 11LawrenceSubstituted forCifuentesat 19'minutes
- 45McCausland
- 13CantwellSubstituted forLammersat 88'minutes
- 19Sima
- 99Pereira da SilvaSubstituted forRoofeat 71'minutes
Substitutes
- 5Souttar
- 9Dessers
- 14Lammers
- 15Cifuentes
- 17Matondo
- 21Sterling
- 25Roofe
- 26Davies
- 28McCrorie
Referee:William Collum
Attendance:17,759
Live Text
Match ends, Heart of Midlothian 0, Rangers 1.
Second Half ends, Heart of Midlothian 0, Rangers 1.
Attempt missed. James Tavernier (Rangers) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is too high from a direct free kick.
Alan Forrest (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Dujon Sterling (Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Alan Forrest (Heart of Midlothian).
James Tavernier (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Calem Nieuwenhof (Heart of Midlothian).
Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Leon Balogun.
Attempt blocked. Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Kye Rowles (Heart of Midlothian) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Barrie McKay with a cross following a corner.
Substitution, Rangers. Sam Lammers replaces Todd Cantwell.
Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by José Cifuentes.
Attempt blocked. Kenneth Vargas (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lawrence Shankland.
Attempt saved. Frankie Kent (Heart of Midlothian) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Alex Cochrane with a cross.
Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Dujon Sterling.
Foul by Kemar Roofe (Rangers).
Alex Cochrane (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Barrie McKay replaces Stephen Kingsley.
Attempt blocked. Ross McCausland (Rangers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Todd Cantwell.
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Heart of Midlothian
Squad number28Player nameClark
Squad number3Player nameKingsley
Squad number2Player nameKent
Squad number15Player nameRowles
Squad number13Player nameAtkinson
Squad number8Player nameNieuwenhof
Squad number6Player nameBaningime
Squad number7Player nameGrant
Squad number19Player nameCochrane
Squad number9Player nameShankland
Squad number30Player nameTagawa
Squad number11Player nameOda
Squad number17Player nameForrest
Squad number18Player nameMcKay
Squad number77Player nameVargas
Rangers
Squad number1Player nameButland
Squad number2Player nameTavernier
Squad number6Player nameGoldson
Squad number27Player nameBalogun
Squad number3Player nameYilmaz
Squad number4Player nameLundstram
Squad number11Player nameLawrence
Squad number45Player nameMcCausland
Squad number13Player nameCantwell
Squad number19Player nameSima
Squad number99Player nameDanilo
Squad number14Player nameLammers
Squad number15Player nameCifuentes
Squad number21Player nameSterling
Squad number25Player nameRoofe
English (US) ·