Key events
Half time: Hearts 0-0 Rangers
Cortes stays down after slipping while trying to run past Taylor. He’s still down when the referee blows the whistle to end an exciting first half. Hearts were excellent and hit the bar through Yan Dhanda, though Cyriel Dessers had two decent opportunities for Rangers.
44 min Hearty jeers when Yilmaz miscontrols the ball to end a promising Rangers attack.
41 min: Chance for Dessers! Rangers play through the press very well, moving the ball from right to left. Yilmaz gallops forward and picks out Dessers beyond the far post. His first touch is brilliant, wrongfooting two defenders, and then he cracks a shot from about 15 yards with his left foot. It’s too close to Clark who pushes it away.
38 min Hearts appeal for a penalty when Dhanda goes over in the area after a slight touch across the chest from Lawrence. No aye Dhanda.
37 min Taylor’s long-range shot loops up off the head of Davies and is well claimed by Butland.
33 min Devlin is booked for a late tackle on Wright. It was a foul but a yellow card seems a bit harsh.
32 min The two managers have words after Yilmaz goes down following a clash with Dhanda. “Eff off” was the gist of Steven Naismith’s contribution; I didn’t see what Philippe Clement said.
31 min The home crowd appeal for a penalty when Dhanda’s cross hits the fist of Barron. His arm was raised but close to his body and VAR quickly clear it.
30 min A stinging half-volley from Grant, 25 yards out, is blocked by the outrushing Lawrence. Hearts really have been superb.
28 min Yilmaz is penalised for a clumsy challenge on Vargas, who is running Rangers ragged. Dhanda’s free-kick hits the head of a defender and loops towards the far post, where Souttar (I think) wins a crucial header.
25 min Dhanda dummies to go outsied Yilmax, that cuts outside and tees up McKay, who whips a curler over the bar from the edge of the box. Half a chance.
21 min: Chance for Dessers! Diomande’s pass over the top is superbly controlled on the stretch by Dessers, Dennis Bergkamp’s style, but he puts too much weight on his lob and clears the crossbar.
20 min Rangers are having a lot of the ball but that suits Hearts, with the pace of Vargas making them such a threat on the break. The home crowd aren’t happy when he goes over after a challenge from Tavernier; the referee gives nothing and replays suggest he made the right decision.
19 min A lovely effort from Connor Barron, who cracks a left-footed drive from 25 yards that kicks up awkwardly and is pushed round the post by the diving Clark. That’s a really good save because he saw it quite late.
19 min “Fitba is many things (stupid, joyous, compelling, unexpected and stupid) but rarely civilised,” says Gerry Scott. “I suspect Rangers’ season will be determined in part by how soon they can get back into playing at Ibrox. Despite what they’ve said in public September feels a bit optimistic to me but who knows.”
17 min Rangers are getting the runaround. Vargas gets the wrong side of Souttar on the left side of the area, turns back and tries to pick out somebody on the edge of the box. It’s cut out desperately and Hearts have another corner.
13 min: Dhanda hits the bar! Two chances for Hearts. First Taylor goes on a barnstorming run from right-back and squares to Shankland, whose deflected shot goes just wide. The resulting corner is taken short and moved infield to Dhanda, 20 yards out. His shot takes a subtle deflection, loops over Butland and hits the crossbar!
Hearts have been terrific, particularly Taylor at right-back.
12 min This is great fun. Vargas’s cross is cut out at one end, then Wright’s shot is blocked at the other.
10 min At the other end Lawrence does Penrice on the right and hammers a dangerous cross that is booted away by Kent.
9 min The resulting corner is headed well wide.
8 min: Good save by Butland! Kent’s clipped ball forward is controlled by Vargas on the edge of the area. Penrice takes it off him, surges past Tavernier and hits a shot that is pushed round the near post by Butland. Really good save. Penrice and Taylor, the two new full-backs, have made excellent starts.
5 min There’s a good tempo to the game, with both teams full of opening-day intent. Hearts have probably started the better.
A reminder of the teams
Hearts (4-2-3-1) Clark; Taylor, Rowles, Kent, Penrice; Grant, Devlin; Dhanda, Shankland, McKay; Vargas.
Substitutes: Gordon, Kingsley, Halkett, Oyegoke, Oda, Spittal, Forrest, Boateng, Boyce.
Rangers (4-2-3-1) Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Yilmaz; Barron, Diomande; Lawrence, Wright, Cortes; Dessers.
Substitutes: Kelly, Matondo, Cerny, Dowell, Jefte, Balogun, King, McKinnon, Danilo.
Referee Nick Walsh.
2 min Hearts have started with Lawrence Shankland playing behind the rapid Kenneth Vargas, with McKay playing on the left. Shankland has a good earlier effort, swishing a bouncing ball towards goal from 20 yards. Butland makes a comfortable save.
1 min Hearts kick off from right to left as we watch.
The players are ready for action. Looks a lovely day in Edinburgh; let the ball do the work and all that.
“I’m very interested to see how Rangers go this season,” writes Phil Withall. “Seemingly hampered by more financial mismanagement and overspending, in serious need of ‘something’. It may not be hyperbolic to say this is the first six-pointer of the season.”
An August six-pointer really should be an oxymoron, unless you take out the O.
This is the real quiz, part 145915425235
“About to set off to Fir Park for the real season opener of Well versus, uh, Ross County,” writes James Humphries. “First day of the season is like Christmas morning, and you can read that however you like – still pathetically excited for it though, god help me.
“In light of the request for civilised emails only, I won’t give you the song about Hearts and Dundee, but instead the following. (I will freely admit the band name is awful.)”
Team news
Three of Hearts’ new signing start the game: Yan Dhanda, Gerald Taylor and James Penrice.
Rangers new boy Connor Barron starts in midfield alongside Mohamed Diomande, who joined permanently from Nordsjælland in the summer.
The Premiership season is about to begin, but the transfer window remains wide open. Hearts’ latest signing Malachi Boateng will be on the bench today.
Ewan Murray’s season preview
As Scotland’s Premiership season kicks off on Saturday, the only danger to Celtic is Celtic themselves. Rangers are a distant second best, off and on the pitch. There is no other way to assess a club who will decamp to Hampden Park for the early stages of the campaign due to the botched upgrade of disabled facilities inside Ibrox.
Preamble
Fitba’s back, baby! The new Scottish Premiership season begins with a cracking match at Tynecastle: Hearts, who finished third last season, against the runners-up Rangers. There hasn’t been a wealth of pre-season optimism at Ibrox, with all concerned realising the extent of Philippe Clement’s challenge.
Clement has signed nine players this summer, most with a view to the medium and long-term, and a number of thirtysomething regulars have left the club.
Rangers announced an extension to Clement’s contract yesterday, which now runs to 2028, and he has stressed the need for patience in the build-up to this game. Good luck with that!
If Rangers do drop off, Hearts are the team most likely to break into the top off. But their squad will be tested by a minimum of eight games in Europe. As ever, much will depend on the efficiency of Lawrence Shankland, who swept the awards last season and has scored 24 league goals in both his seasons at Tynecastle.
Kick off 12.30pm.
