In this new ‘On This Rangers Day’ feature, we will turn back the clock to yesterday, pulling a random game from the archives that corresponds to a particular date.
This time, we rewind seven years to Steven Gerrard’s first season and a trip to Tynecastle in the first game after the SPFL Premiership split.
Unfortunately, Rangers were out of the title reckoning by this point, having imploded in earlier months, as Gerrard’s embryonic team couldn’t knit together the form to be true title contenders.
It was a season of progress, punctuated by disappointment, including exits in both cup competitions against Aberdeen.
Rangers regained respectability on the European front once more, and that would be a theme of Gerrard’s reign.
Europa League group stage football was played against Villarreal, Spartak Moscow, and Rapid Vienna, having come through four qualifying rounds.
Hearts 1-3 Rangers – 20 April 2019
The BBC Sport Scotland match report included the following:
Rangers eased to a seventh consecutive victory over Hearts to ensure Celtic cannot clinch the Scottish Premiership title against Hibernian on Sunday.
It took Steven Gerrard’s side only 15 minutes to make their early dominance tell through a Jermain Defoe finish.
Ryan Jack fired the second after being set up by Daniel Candeias.
Nikola Katic’s half-volley from Candeias’ cross after the break secured the points before Steven MacLean’s headed reply.
Second-placed Rangers’ second three-goal win over Hearts this month moves the visitors to within eight points of the reigning champions.
Hearts’ chances of winning a Europa League place through their Scottish Premiership finish were further diminished as their run without a win over Rangers was extended to nine games.
The Rangers squad on that day was:
McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Flanagan, Davis (Polster), Kamara, Jack, Arfield, Defoe (Lafferty), Candeias (Middleton). Subs: McCrorie, Worrall, Halliday, Foderingham.
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