Dujon Sterling, Ridvan Yilmaz enormous, Nico Raskin flops – Rangers player ratings v Hearts.

Rangers destroyed an in-form Hearts side 5-0 to go five points clear of Celtic at the top of the table on a day when numerous players were outstanding.

The Light Blues got off the perfect start on 24 February as Oscar Cortes found fellow January signing Mohamed Diomande to fire the opener in low from distance in the second minute, but it took until the 37th minute for the winger to double the lead with a wonderful first-time finish to open his Gers account, after good work from Dujon Sterling and Tom Lawrence.

From there Philippe Clement’s side blew the visitors away and Cyriel Dessers turned in a third before the break from an excellent John Souttar ball, then smashed home his second, eventually, as soon as the second half began after a similarly-wonderful Sterling cross, before substitute Fabio Silva added a late fifth in a stunning display.

Here, Ibrox News rates the Rangers players out of 10 for their performances against the Jam Tarts.

Rangers blow Hearts away as Cyriel Dessers finds scoring boots

ardly needed to be there such was the domination of Rangers until the game was long-over, but produced a couple of good late saves to preserve a merited clean sheet.

James Tavernier – 7

Appeared to not quite have a perfect understanding with Sterling down the right yet at times but got near with a couple of typically-threatening efforts of his own and covered effectively defensively. Came into his own with balls into the box as Rangers got themselves in complete control.

John Souttar – 8

Great day all-round for the Scot. Decent play defensively in the face of minimal Hearts threat but made possibly the pass of his life which even Dessers couldn’t pass up for the third goal which concluded the battle.

Connor Goldson – 7

Didn’t have much more to do than pass the ball calmly across the Rangers back line in an unexpectedly comfortable game for the most part. One defensive obligation saw him put in a brilliant slide tackle in his own box on the hour to show his concentration hadn’t wavered.

Ridvan Yilmaz – 9

Excellent. Actively involved throughout although, like a number of Rangers players, was wayward with his passes for a while. That stopped when he swung one beauty of a cross across for Dessers, only for the striker to have wandered offside and nod it wide anyway, before driving an even better ball through the six-yard box moments later to prove his radar had switched on. Borna Barisic’s delivery has always been his key asset but if the Turk can give that too then the left-back slot is his to lose.

John Lundstram – 7

Comfortable game in the base of the midfield as he passed the ball around under little pressure and let the strikers and full-backs do the damage. Beautiful reverse pass to aid Silva’s goal.

Mohamed Diomande (off for Raskin ’70) – 7

Fast going about making his “huge” transfer fee a worthwhile investment with his second in two weekends as he arrowed a low shot into the bottom corner with his very first involvement. Arguably eclipsed by many players subsequently but he began the ball rolling on a tremendous performance.

January signings Mohamed Diomande and Oscar Cortes impress at Ibrox

Dujon Sterling (off for McCausland ’56) – 10 – Man of the Match

Fantastic display from a man who appears to have everything and is increasingly looking like an amazing steal of a free transfer acquisition in the summer. Energetic and threatening in an advanced position as he muscled Hearts players off the ball often and his work caused both the second and fourth goals, as he regained the ball in midfield and put Lawrence away in the first half, then whipped in a Tavernier-esque cross for Dessers’ second. If he continues to improve under Clement as he is then he could soon be undroppable.

Tom Lawrence (off for Silva ’56) – 6

Looked slightly off the pace in a slow opening and struggled to find his touch at times, but still proved to be effective and did wonderful job in the build up to the second goal as he broke forward down the right and laid it on a plate for Cortes to finish. A measure of his quality that he contributed that much when off colour, but didn’t look delighted when Clement replaced him.

Oscar Cortes (off for Wright ’70) – 8

Already looked to have SPFL defenders concerned when advancing in off the left, just as he did early to then find Diomande to score, but was quiet for a brief while until he doubled the lead with a superb first-time strike into the far corner. Surely working his way towards a permanent Ibrox move.

Cyriel Dessers (off for Roofe ’79) – 8

The best and the worst of the big man up front. Exhibited the sort of dynamism that seemed impossible some months ago when he turned Kye Rowles inside his own half before a quarter of an hour and drove towards goal at speed, with only a good Zander Clark save keeping him at bay, yet missed three close-range chances while repeatedly being caught offside. Eventually got two pleasing goals, even though the second had to escape a VAR review for handball, but on a day like today definitely should have completed his hat-trick.

Substitutions

Ross McCausland (on for Sterling ’56) – 6

Didn’t quite match the scintillating displays of the opening XI.

Fabio Silva (on for Lawrence ’56) – 7

Got in on the party with a nice low finish not long after comingon.

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