Rangers-Hearts debrief: Rangers striker redeemed as Lawrence Shankland displays frustration in surprisingly one-sided contest

Rangers go five points clear at the top after dominant performance against Hearts, who lose 5-0 at Ibrox for second time in two years

Maybe Rangers don't need Lawrence Shankland after all. Striker Cyriel Dessers might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he was a dominant – if erratic – figure as Rangers cemented their place at the top of the league. In doing so, they extinguished Hearts' faint hopes of inserting themselves into the title equation.

It might have read 3.04 on the clock in the Sandy Jardine Stand when Mohamed Diomande put the hosts in front with a sweetly-hit drive, but Hearts had not even held out for as long as four minutes.

Their resistance and perhaps even their belief, about which much was said beforehand, had lasted just 76 seconds. The delay to kick-off was due to a tremendously stirring minute’s applause for former Rangers forward Ian McMillan, who died earlier this month at the age of 92.

Rangers' Cyriel Dessers celebrates with Dujon Sterling after making it 3-0 in Rangers' 5-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

How the Wee Prime Minister would have loved this from his old team, who rarely seemed to be in trouble as they extended their lead over Celtic to five points and augmented their goal difference. It now stands at 48 after this comprehensive victory compared to 40 for their rivals, who play Motherwell tomorrow.

“Together” read a large banner unveiled by the Union Bears at the end, one of manager Philippe Clement's manifestos. The Belgian can do little wrong at present.

This was perhaps Rangers’ most dominant display under Clement, who had the luxury of using all five subs. The enigmatic Dessers was given a rousing ovation from the home fans when he left the pitch after 79 minutes, although of course some of the acclaim was for Kemar Roofe, his replacement. Roofe was making his return from his latest injury setback and the goodwill towards him was palpable.

The fans’ relationship with Dessers is perhaps more complex. They grumbled and growled as he passed up a succession of chances of varying difficulty. The most glaring was a header at the back post from Ridvan Yilmaz’s cross that the likes of Mark Hateley would have converted in their sleep.

Lawrence Shankland cut a frustrated figure as the Hearts talisman drew a blank against Rangers.

Dessers was even criticised in the run-up to Rangers’ second goal after appearing to give up too easily when dispossessed. But the home side won the ball back and Dessers made an intelligent run to create space for Tom Lawrence, who found Oscar Cortes. The Colombian’s finish, with the ball tucked inside Zander Clark’s far post, was every bit as tidy as Diomande’s execution 35 minutes or so earlier from a similar area of the park.

It was a timely strike since it came during a spell when Hearts had seemingly managed to steady themselves and were making some inroads on the hosts’ goal. It also meant the pressure was off Dessers slightly. His earlier misses were unlikely to count for much. He himself made certain this would be the case when he side-footed home John Souttar's cross a minute before half time. He then lashed into the roof of the net from close-range three minutes into the second half. Both goals survived VAR checks for offside and handball respectively.

This pair of goals means Dessers is now on 16 for the season so far although he ought to have had a hat-trick here at the very least. Shankland would likely have collected one given the same opportunities. However, he was playing for the opposing team and had only one half-chance, which he almost buried. A second-half header bashed off Jack Butland’s far post from Nathaniel Atkinson’s cross.

Shankland was subbed off after 78 minutes and although this seemed sensible given Hearts’ commitments in the days ahead, he was irked. He tossed his armband to the turf much to the delight of the home fans, who cheered him off. Perhaps there will come a time when they do so non-ironically but he's not yet a Rangers player, and he might never become one despite the speculation.

In any case, Clement, on this evidence, has conducted some very smart business in the winter transfer market. Another new signing Fabio Silva rounded things off with a fine strike for Rangers’ fifth after good play from John Lundstram, who enjoyed a quietly efficient performance in midfield. Silva found the bottom corner with a neat, angled finish.

There were still 25 minutes – not including additional time – to play so there was plenty of scope for Rangers to score six times in the league against Hearts for the first time since a 6-1 win in January 1972, over 50 years ago. Silva came closest with another angled drive well parried by Clark but it was in fact Shankland who was nearest to finding the net, with that header off the post.

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