Rangers 4-2 Hearts
The Scottish title race was blown wide open on Sunday after Rangers, inspired by Portuguese forward Youssef Chermiti, twice came from behind to defeat league leaders Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox.
Man of the Match Chermiti scored a hat-trick in Glasgow to inflict a loss on Hearts, for whom fellow Portuguese man Cláudio Braga was also on the scoresheet. The result means surprise package Hearts now lead the Scottish Premiership by just one point from Rangers, with champions Celtic three points off the summit with a game in-hand.
Things started badly for the Gers as Hearts arrived with the typical confidence of a team who have led the standings for much of the season. Marc Leonard put Hearts ahead on 16 minutes, but the advantage was quickly cancelled out by a Michael Steinwender own goal a few minutes later to tie it up at 1-1.
Braga, who has been a revelation in Scotland, then scored his 11th league goal of the season with a sublime header on the half hour mark to put his side 2-1 up. The 26-year-old former Boavista academy prospect joined Rangers in the summer from Norwegian side Aalesunds, since when he has been one of the most lethal forwards in the league and sits 3rd in the top goalscorers standings.
However, the day belonged to Chermiti, who crucially levelled things up at 2-2 with a composed finish five minutes before the break. In the second half, the former Sporting man was dominant, nodding in at the near post to make it 3-2 (57’) and then putting the game beyond Braga’s side with another cool finish in the final minute to complete his first-ever career treble.
Goals bring confidence - Chermiti
"It was a great afternoon for us and obviously for the team,” said Chermiti, who cost €8.6m from Everton at the end of last summer’s transfer window and has 9 goal contributions (7 goals; 2 assists) from 19 SPL matches.
“For me, it was very good to score a hat-trick, my first hat-trick, and I am happy for that. But it was a very important result for us. Every game is important for us. We are in the race now and it is getting tight.
"Every goal for this club is a big moment for me so yeah, it was good and I enjoyed it.
"The stadium was really rocking today and the atmosphere was really good. As I said before, we now look forward to the next game and we are going to try and make more wins and just keep getting three points.
"The most important thing for me is the three points. If other players scored the hat-trick, that would be good as well.
"But it is always special scoring the first hat-trick for this club. It does give you more confidence and freedom to show my potential, my skills and my abilities, so yeah I think it is very good."
By Sean Gillen
