Tynecastle was all revved up to roar last night.

A midweek game, under the lights, with the hosts on the up. In the end, the home support’s anticipation would only come out in ire, their roars directed at their team, not in support of them. Because pretty quickly Rangers made it clear that this might just be the time to pull out a performance they’ve not produced for a while. From start to finish they dominated, moved cohesively as a unit and offered up, by some distance, their best domestic showing of the season.

This win was comprehensive. The ball was put into the Hearts net three times with VAR outlawing the same number. The woodwork struck twice and Zander Clark busy throughout. It’s no exaggeration to say full-time could have been sixes or sevens and it was a perfect demonstration of the identity Michael Beale’s working to install.

“I thought particularly out of possession we were excellent in terms of our pressures and regains,” Beale said during his post-match press conference.

“It caused a lot of problems for Hearts where we won the ball. They were quite expansive in the way they tried to play. We had to be good defensively and we won a lot of duels. When I looked at their team I thought ‘oh, he’s having a right go at us’.”

“Because Hearts had a go at us it gave us space to have a real go at them back. Malik [Tillman], Glen [Kamara], John [Lundstram] and the two full-backs won so many duels. When the ball was played up to the Hearts players we stole it and then were very incisive.”

The manager reiterated the need for more but internally this showing will have brought real satisfaction. What his team were trying to achieve was clear and obvious. Their principles and premeditated patterns straight from the Beale handbook.

Out of possession, Rangers made the pitch small and harassed Hearts. By the time Robert Snodgrass, playing at the base of midfield, had scanned one of his shoulders Alfredo Morelos was popping up behind the other. Whenever a settled flow of possession looked on, there was Ryan Kent to launch a transition. If the ball got beyond the top of the team? Lundstram was on hand to claw it back, with a performance plucked right out of his European run. Blue whizzing objects, “running forwards” off the ball as Beale outlined at his very first press conference. A torrent of pressure unleashed at every turnover. This was playing with the handbrake off in every phase of the game.

Hearts wanted to get the ball wide. Robbie Neilson continually cajoled his team to do so, pointing furiously at the free man on the opposite side. His team were never able to dictate exchanges or "play expansively", stuck instead in the places Rangers wanted. The visitors owned the pitch even when they didn’t have the ball.

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READ MORE: Michael Beale's tactical philosophy in his words

When it was their turn for a shot, Rangers had solutions beyond pressure with a significant goalthreat posed. Beale spoke about playing two No.9s in these fixtures to “give the opposition something to think about” pre-match and, if not for overeager runs beyond the defence, Morelos and Sakala would’ve had a combined five goals to their name instead of two.

The manner in which Sakala, Morelos and Kent streamed forward at every opportunity, enabled by the duels their teammates won behind them, showed the value of keeping the front three high up the pitch. Even if it was two clever set-piece routines that earned a 2-0 lead by the break.

The Ibrox side's entire off-ball system is based on their view of the attack. Keeping a compact, solid centre, outnumbering the opposition around the ball and ensuring attackers aren’t carried backwards.

Beale brands this a game of “cat and mouse”. Yes, there’s a risk that at times the opponent will find space as a result of Rangers’ aggressive defence but on the flip side, they’re tasked with defending this front three in transitions high up the pitch.

The 42-year-old elaborated on all these themes during a Coaches Voice seminar in 2021, focusing on a system that features intense organisation to enable real attacking freedom. Beale wants his team to be exciting to play in and, as a natural result, exciting to watch.

The players looked like they were enjoying themselves yesterday in a system that suited. The attackers played close together, the creative players had plenty of touches and those behind did necessary mopping up.

Beale, largely unmoved throughout the entire game, barked at Sakala to hold the line just seconds before he darted in behind and provided a second for Morelos. A near mirror image of the first-half disallowed goal but this time just millimetres onside.

It was a small detail, maybe Sakala would’ve moved out right anyway? Does it really matter when managers shout all game? On a night when all of Beale’s ideas felt that little bit more clear and obvious, there was a poignancy to the action.

Without any new arrivals in the starting 11, it was a match that validated an early judgment that the squad “aren’t as broken as some people think”.

This was just a really good performance in isolation and Beale certainly wasn’t getting carried away afterwards. Even if it was the clearest, most discernible demonstration yet of what he wants his Rangers side to look like and why that can render long-term success.