Giovanni van Bronckhorst declared himself satisfied after witnessing his team record a solid 0-4 win over Hearts on Saturday.
The importance of the three points cannot be underestimated. This was a game that Rangers had to win and they done that with plenty to spare. GvB will be very pleased at how the game panned out. His side got the opener, added to it then other events transpired that saw the contest fall firmly in his favour.
As the Dutchman noted, Rangers really should have added at least a third before the half-time break but poor finishing as well as a shocker from the officials to disallow Scott Arfield’s goal meant the deficit was only two at the break. There was also a numerical advantage in players on the pitch thanks to the blatant red card deservedly dished out to Hearts’ Devlin.
The Rangers boss summed up the match and his pleasure with how it was handled:
“I think we started really well and the first goal is always important. In the last meetings here we always did it and today as well. That was good. The second goal was a great goal.”
“Before that there were some great transition moments where I think we should have scored one or two then in the end we didn’t have the right pass or a little bit too much speed. Then with the sending off you play with 11 so it’s more difficult for them to press us and after that we controlled the game and managed to score two more goals.”
🗣️ "I really like him [Devlin] as a player, I told him you don't need to make these challenges…"
Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst reflects on his sides 4-0 victory against Hearts 🔵🔊 pic.twitter.com/jrS7my3mpv
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 1, 2022
The major positives from the win were the four goals, the clean sheet and gains for different individuals throughout the team – Antonio Colak continues his red-hot form, Ryan Kent will be oosted with his goal and Ben Davies look composed in defence next to Connor Goldson.
It wasn’t a perfect performance but it didn’t need to be. Rangers secured a comfortable win, sealing it much later than should have been the case, but the emphatic scoreline was a fair reflection of the visitors application as well as the poor challenge posed by Robbie Neilson’s team.