He may have declared himself delighted with the performance at Tynecastle, but Michael Beale wants much more from his Rangers team moving forward.
An under cooked Hearts side had no answer for Rangers slick, polished display. It was everything that the fans wanted after a series of very good results. This time, an emphatic scoreline was backed up by a convincing, dominant performance for the duration.
Three goals scored, another three chalked off by VAR as well as a penalty award, a string of saves by Zander Clark and a Connor Goldson effort that rebounded off the bar. That’s not even the full story.
Rangers were excellent and it showed. This has to be the standard maintained going forward. Beale was very happy with what he witnessed but he refused to get carried away. Instead, he sent a signal of intent that this is just the beginning, telling BBC Scotland Sportsound:
“I thought Hearts approach made for a good game. It was one of those matches where the team that scored first might get the confidence to go on. We started the game ever so well and we were tactically good in the game.”
“We are nowhere near where we want to be but tonight was a step in the right direction.”
Strength
Goldson and Davies were rarely troubled at the back, sniffing out danger when required. Kamara and Lundstram were transformed in midfield, setting the tone for everything that was good about Rangers. Tillman as usual done his best work in the final third, adding to the continual threat posed by Kent, Sakala and Morelos.
Quite simply, this was the most complete performance to date under Michael Beale and hopefully a sign of what is to follow with Saturday’s home fixture against Ross County providing the perfect opportunity to push on, rack up more goals and turn up the style.