At Hampden with Rangers seeking the breakthrough, James Tavernier showed an ability to bounce back from disappointment. But, for all their talk of learning from past fragilities, it was a resolve that Hearts could not match.

The Rangers captain had missed a penalty in last weekend’s Premiership meeting but presented with a similar opportunity at the national stadium, with a place in the Viaplay Cup final at stake, he left goalkeeper Zander Clark rooted to the spot as he established a lead that would only grow.

Over the space of 14 minutes Rangers played on Hearts’ vulnerabilities to add a second and then a third goal to effectively kill off the match. When Stephen Kingsley was awarded a penalty – eventually – and Lawrence Shankland shrugged off speculation linking him to the Govan side to slot it away, the men in maroon rushed to pluck the ball from the net. But with only nine minutes plus stoppage time remaining and with the capital side struggling to conjure up many quality chances in the previous 81 minutes, it looked a fairly empty gesture.

Rangers' Scott Wright salutes the crowd after scoring his team's second goal at Hampden against Hearts.

Having faced each other last weekend, there was a familiarity there. There were also some unhealed scars. The trademark semi-final edginess manifested in stray passes and quick turnovers but with memories of the late one-two Rangers floored them with seven days ago still fresh, there was a doggedness to Hearts’ defence. They found themselves cut open in the first half but always rallied to get in a block or found goalkeeper Clark well-positioned to make an intervention.

Rangers will have been annoyed by that. With city rivals Celtic already out of the competition, they knew they had an obvious advantage in their bid to claim the trophy that has eluded them since 2011/12. But they had to find the breakthrough. It did look a matter of when not if.

While Tavernier was a key performer, the arrival of Scott Wright, as a replacement for Todd Cantwell, at the start of the second half was also notable. This was the player who had turned the 2022 Scottish Cup final in Rangers’ favour the last time the teams had met at Hampden – a ground where Hearts have never bettered their Govan rivals – and after his captain had opened the account, he weighed in with the second goal, just five minutes later to knock the stuffing out the Tynecastle outfit.

Danilo had been a nuisance, along with Abdallah Sima but neither of them had combined enough power with precision. Tavernier and Wright did. It was Danilo who won the penalty, though, nipping in ahead of Clark to latch onto Kye Rowles’ header. From the spot, the Rangers captain was clinical.

Hearts' Alan Forrest and Aidan Denholm trudge off the Hampden pitch following the defeat by Rangers.

Wright was a player intent on taking the game to Hearts, who struggled to get enough telling forward passes, at the tempo required to get by their opponents. Wright had no such problems as he combined with his colleagues to find pockets of space. From one such position, he slammed his strike home. But Tavernier wasn’t finished and added a third with a free-kick.

Hearts got their penalty in the 81st minute but even that was a saga as the referee first accused Kingsley of diving. That earned the Gorgie defender a second yellow before VAR interjected and the sending off was reversed and a spot kick awarded.

Shankland converted but on a day of disappointment that deepened Hearts’ toxic relationship with the League Cup, it wasn’t anywhere near enough to prevent the capital fans heading back along the M8 in a miserable mood for the second weekend in a row.

Rangers' key man shows he can bounce back - but Hearts continue to be left on canvas