Giovanni van Bronckhorst talks up Rangers' title chances after 5-0 drubbing of Hearts at Ibrox

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst believes his team will remain firmly on course to retain the Premiership title if they maintain the attitude and application they brought to their 5-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox.

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst saw his team bounce back from their Old Firm defeat with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Van Bronckhorst was thrilled by the response of his players as they bounced back from the 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park in midweek which saw their Old Firm rivals leapfrog them at the top of the table.

Celtic remain a point clear in the title race, beating Motherwell 4-0 at Fir Park earlier on Sunday before Rangers’ rout of Hearts, but van Bronckhorst is upbeat about his team’s prospects of reclaiming the ascendancy.

“The key is to keep performing, game in, game out,” he said. “If we keep this energy and determination every game then we’re going to have a good chance.

“We have to make sure we keep winning game after game. We’re happy with the performance and of course the three points because that’s vital at the moment.

“It’s a big win for us, especially with the way we won and the attitude from minute one. That showed a reaction and helped us get back to winning ways.

“The way we played was very good, very energetic. With the subs we could bring on, we could keep the quality and the threat all over the pitch.”

Rangers were boosted by the return of Alfredo Morelos, who had missed their three previous league games due to international duty.

The Colombian striker’s early goal gave them a half-time lead and after Hearts missed a couple of good chance to equalise, he settled Ibrox nerves with a second goal before Glen Kamara, Scott Arfield and Fashion Sakala completed the scoring.

“We know what he can bring to the team - a lot of threat up front, especially with his movement,” said van Bronckhorst.

“We knew he was going to give us that bit of extra up front to be dangerous and he showed that again.

“It’s always important to get the first goal and you also want the second goal to relieve the pressure a little bit.

“At the start of the second half, we were giving some chances away. But we stuck in and made sure we overcame those moments. We picked it up afterwards and scored some good goals.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.