GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst’s unbeaten start in the Rangers dugout strode on yesterday afternoon.
His side remains top of the Scottish Premiership with three home ties next on the agenda.
Yesterday, Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo earned the points within 13 minutes of the first whistle. The Scottish Champions won the game before the battle to maintain a two-goal advantage.
That early lead is an important factor to consider when reviewing what followed. The visiting side afforded Hearts plenty of control as they protected their lead and then looked to pick moments on the counterattack.
The match trendline personifies this. After going two goals ahead in 13 minutes, Van Bronckhorst’s men only had one shot until the 60th minute. Thereafter they were able to create a number of high-value chances before full-time.
While the final xG tally was relatively even, watching on it always felt as though the Scottish Champions would've been able to click back into gear if necessary.
Analysis of Rangers’ first-half pass network gives more insight into the opening period.
The width supplied by Fashion Sakala and Ryan Kent was obvious to the naked eye. Look at the length of carries made by Kent from his wide starting point.
Sakala also made impressive inroads from the right.
Notice also the deep midfield three. Although Aribo would score with a run beyond the defence and Scott Arfield too was granted some attacking freedom both were required to hold the result.
Allan McGregor had a GSAA (Goals saved above average) total of 1.64 yesterday.
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Liam Boyce’s early lob had a post-shot xG of 0.80. Put simply, the No.1 was at his very best.
His stop from Boyce was nearly stat-defying, given the likelihood of the shot looping into the back of the net. Two minutes into the game, it was a defining moment.
Reviewing Hearts’ first-half pass network, the area they tried to attack is evident. An overload on the left-hand side bore some success.
With Sakala ahead of James Tavernier – Arfield’s work rate was key in the defensive phase. He made 28 pressures and eight defensive actions.
The starting XI pass map for the visitors accounts for the 4-4-1-1 which was utilised in the second 45. Aribo played closer to Kamara, with Arfield remaining higher.
There is a reduced focus on remaining compact under the new regime. Instead, either winger tracks back to support their full-back and the defensive approach is more ‘man-orientated’.
At times, however, the Edinburgh outfit were able to gain territory a little easily. With play not being shown outside of the defence as demonstrated in the away side’s pressure map.
The hosts' own pressure map shows where Gary Mackay-Stevens and Barrie McKay tried to create overloads - as well as outlining the origin point of either goal.
Moving the ball towards the right side of the defence before switching to the left, where Aribo and Kent were able to run either side of the isolated Taylor Moore.
A review of Connor Goldson’s 45 successful passes tells us this. Look how many square passes were played. As in midweek, the team waited to unleash synchronized runs from pinged diagonals once such an option was available.
The sequences leading up to either strike underline the principles that won the game. Patient initial build-up, width leading to coordinated runs and ruthless finishing.
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The opener was 44 actions long, culminating in Goldson’s diagonal, Kent’s cross and Sakala’s assist.
Aribo’s goal featured 46 actions before he secured the result.
Thereafter, high-quality chances would arrive towards the end of the game.
Arfield should have added a third from this position late on, but somehow fired wide.
A glance at the stats would judge 2-2 to have been a more equal result - but that would not account for the state the majority of the game was played within.
Rangers did their business early and saw out the result. Luck was required at points admittedly, but as Van Bronckhorst noted post-match: "It is always good to have a good goalie in goal."
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