Wasteful Morelos is punished late by rare Mcgregor blunder
Lundstram (40)
HEARTS 1
Halkett (90)
Red-carded Robbie Neilson missed the goal that saw his team snatch a draw to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
The Edinburgh visitors looked beaten for all money in a largely one-sided affair, dominated by Steven Gerrard’s side, who spurned chance after chance.
Alfredo Morelos, alone, could have had a hat-trick, four goals even, so good were the opportunities that came his way.
On each occasion, though, he failed to work Hearts keeper Craig Gordon.
And when, in the last 60 seconds of regulation time, Gordon’s opposite number, Allan Mcgregor made a hash of trying to catch Gary Mackay-steven’s corner, they counted for nothing.
Craig Halkett, hardly able to believe his luck, pounced at the back post to head home into an empty net.
That meant a happy ending to the afternoon for his manager, whose frustration with referee Don Robertson ending up earning him two yellow cards for dissent.
“I didn’t see the goal, I just heard the silence, which was nice!” said Neilson.
“I was in the tunnel area – right at the back.
“I wasn’t allowed further out but I was delighted anyway.
“We wanted to come here and win but worse-case scenario, we take a point and the boys showed brilliant character.”
Gordon, who had as good a day as Mcgregor had bad, was brought into action early as the home side piled forward in search of an early breakthrough.
He parried away one effort from Scott Wright, dived low to grab another, this time from Ianis Hagi, then heaved a sigh of relief as Alfredo Morelos’s shot from good position went wide.
More dramatically still, he pulled off a double save to deny Leon Balogun.
First he blocked the Nigeria internationa’s header, then his attempt to prod home the ball home from the rebound.
It was going to take something special to beat the in-form keeper and it arrived just before the interval in the form of a terrific strike from John Lundstram.
Hagi was sent scampering down the wing by a lovely cross field ball from Goldson and when he drove a cross inside Halkett could only clear to just past the edge of the box.
Arriving at the right place at the right time, the midfielder touched the ball slightly to the side to set himself then curled a right-foot shot just inside the post.
It was the 13th shot Hearts had to deal with and they could not really claim to have been unlucky as they had allowed themselves to be dominated.
With little changing on the teams’ return after the break, Neilson had to try to shake things up somehow so he turned to the bench and replaced Liverpool loanee Ben Woodburn with Josh Ginnelly.
Rangers sent on Juninho Bacuna for Scott Wright at the same break in play and the former Huddersfield forward was quicker to catch the eye with a couple of direct runs on goal and, later, a key role in the “handbags” on the sideline which saw Neilson red-carded.
His arrival perked the home team up a bit and Stephen Kingsley had to pull out a great saving tackle to shut down Alfredo Morelos when the Colombian looked sure to make it 2-0.
Hearts got a lift from the change too, it just took longer to arrive, with Mcgregor called upon to make two saves to deny Barrie Mckay and Cameron Devlin.
Inevitably their forays forward opened up spaces at the back and Gordon was left counting his blessings after the post blocked one effort from Kemar Roofe then Morelos slid the ball wide when it looked easier to score.
Morelos’s wastefulness, then and through the game on a whole, was to cost Rangers dear.
One-nil is always a risky scoreline, no matter how dominant the team front is, and former Scotland goalkeeper Mcgregor’s error came so late as to leave them little chance to get back in front.