The Ibrox side lifted some of the recent gloom as they booked their place in the final on May 25.
Cyriel Dessers blasted a double to fire Rangers into a Scottish Cup final showdown against Celtic as the pressure lifted on Philippe Clement thanks to a 2-0 semi-final win over Hearts at Hamden.
Suddenly that pressure had been lifted and they could have been ahead even earlier when Dessers sent an effort over from Abdallah Sima’s cross. Sima started lively but suffered a blow when he limped off after just 15 minutes - replaced by Ross McCausland - and that will be a concern to Clement given the Senegalese star has only recently returned.
Hearts almost made them pay early in the restart as Naismith’s men started with real purpose. Kenneth Vargas robbed John Souttar - sloppy on more than one occasion in the second half - and the Costa Rican had Alan Forrest waiting but the cross was poor and Tavernier got back to make a crucial clearance. Shankland then bulleted a header into the side netting with 20 minutes left.
Clement strikes Gold Philippe Clement called it “resting” Connor Goldson but he dropped the defender to the bench and it was a huge call to bring Leon Balogun in for the Englishman. It shows he’s not afraid to make big calls and few fans would have disagreed with the decision. He got what he needed and the Belgian was vindicated.
Rangers FC Hearts FC Hampden Park Philippe Clement Steven Naismith Cyriel Dessers Abdallah Sima
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