How Hearts produced late comeback to earn Rangers draw

Alas, that would prove to be a step too far but the men in maroon could be proud of their performance after Kyosuke Tagawa leathered home the leveller with the final kick of the season. It was an apt conclusion, given how regularly the team have fought back from losing positions this season to finish games on the front foot – and Hearts got a monkey off their back by putting an end to that barren run against Philippe Clement’s men.

With nothing to play for on paper, the match had a last-day-of-school feel to it. It was fairly open and entertaining, and while we should be wary of reading too much into it, it was arguably Hearts’ best performance against Rangers this season. Let’s take a look at some of the tactical tweaks that made it possible.

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Vargas stretches the game

Kenneth Vargas was the spearhead of the Hearts attack on Saturday with Lawrence Shankland sometimes dropping deep during the build-up (as he is wont to do) and at other times joining Vargas up top. It was important that the Costa Rican was Hearts’ most advanced player so that he could use his pace to stretch Rangers’ high line. It’s no secret that this Rangers side don’t like quick, direct counter-attacks and long balls over the top. Add in an uneasy centre-half partnership of Ben Davies and Leon King (fourth and fifth-choice in the Ibrox pecking order in central defence) and it quickly became clear that this was an area where Hearts could hurt their opponents.

The strategy was apparent from the get-go. Barely two minutes had elapsed when Shankland dropped deep to win the ball back just outside his own box.

He has a quick glance up, spots Vargas’ run in behind and lofts the ball into the channel.

It’s a great pass, and now Vargas has acres of space to advance into. Only Davies and King are back. With a little bit of invention and skill to beat his man, Vargas could be in here. On this occasion, he can’t find a way through. Vargas keeps the ball and has to turn back – but it’s an early warning for the visitors.

It would go unheeded. Rangers were enjoying most of the ball but continued to commit men forward, leaving themselves vulnerable on the counter. Whenever Hearts won the ball back, they would try to catch their opponents in transition by getting the ball to Vargas as quickly as possible.

The gambit would pay off shortly after the half-hour mark, and it all starts with some excellent reading of the game from Oda. Rangers have the ball and are attacking down their left. Todd Cantwell receives the ball and drifts inside looking for the pass back and inside, but his team-mate isn't on the same wavelength.

Oda reads it brilliantly and darts in to retrieve the ball. Shankland and Vargas are ahead of him, and again they’re in a 2v2 situation with the entire Rangers half to play in. Oda has one thing on his mind – shift it on quickly – and he does just that.

There will be some debate over whether the final result was intentional – in truth, it looked like an over-hit pass to Vargas – but who cares? It sends Shankland careening through on goal, and then the golden boot winner does what he does best.

Rangers didn’t learn their lesson. Here’s another example, just two minutes after Shankland has opened the scoring. Hearts have just won the ball back and Rangers are pressing high when Frankie Kent launches it long for Vargas to chase.

Davies gets there first but Vargas’ efforts are rewarded when he’s able to rob the defender of the ball and drive forward.

His first touch is good, taking him beyond Davies, but the second is too heavy and Jack Butland is able to sweep up.

A few minutes pass and Vargas gets in behind once again. Shankland has the ball in the middle and holds it up, waiting to time his lofted ball through with Vargas’ run. If he can hit it pretty much anywhere in behind then Vargas will surely win the resulting footrace.

The ball through is brilliant, and now Vargas is bearing down on goal. King is the only man back and has an awful lot of ground to cover so Vargas could get some joy if he attacks directly and with pace.

He makes it to the edge of the box and has a pop at goal, but he drags his shot just wide of the far post.

It was a ploy that caught Rangers out time and again during the first half, but similar opportunities wouldn’t arise in the second half. Hearts needed to find another way of hurting Rangers – and they did.

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Attacking the back post

Rangers’ back four was fairly narrow on Saturday, with the consequence that much of Hearts’ attacking play took place in the wide areas. As well as counter-attacking quickly when the opportunity arose, Hearts had another trick up their sleeve: get the ball out to Oda in 1v1 situation with the inexperienced Fraser, and let the winger do his thing.

As previously mentioned, Fraser won the first couple of duels but Oda had the upper hand thereafter. Twice he left his opponent on his backside after twisting this way and that as he advanced into the box; twice the chance ultimately came to nothing due to a lack of options.

Here’s the first example from around the half-hour mark. The ball’s been worked to Oda, who then draws Fraser towards him. Some space has opened up in the box, and Oda is intent on filling it.

With the drop of the shoulder, Oda darts past Fraser and into the box.

There doesn't appear to be much on initially, until Vargas makes back-post run.

Oda tries to find him, but the cross is blocked and goes behind for a corner. But an apparent flaw in the Rangers backline has been discovered.

Then, a few minutes before the break, a similar situation arises. Oda’s again 1v1 with Fraser, and he does the exact same thing again. The winger draws Fraser towards him before cutting back on himself and driving into the box.

It’s fairly slim pickings this time around as no one is attacking the back stick. Oda can perhaps cut it back to Shankland or the onrushing Cammy Devlin, but Mohamed Diomande is waiting for the cut-back and will press it immediately. He ultimately decides for a pop at goal – ambitious, given the angle, but not the worst option under the circumstances – and the end result is a goal kick to Rangers.

Rangers hit their stride during the first half of the second half as the chances dried up for Hearts. The two goals for the visitors made matters worse before Naismith decided to change the shape to a 3-5-2 with 15 minutes to go, and things soon went from bad to worse as Fabio Silva put Clement’s men 3-1 up. Dexter Lembikisa looked to have switched off to allow the Portuguese to score, but he would soon make up for it.

Hearts would continue to attack the flanks within their new shape but now they would aim for the back post when the opportunity arose. And it was working, too. Take a look at the example below a few minutes before Lembikisa reduces the arrears. The Jamaica internationalist gets the ball out wide, and the Rangers defence is again narrow. Vargas spots the space at the back post and makes a beeline for it while Lembikisa creates some space of his own.

Lembikisa spots his team-mate’s run, and the ball in is superb – but Vargas flashes his header wide of the post.

The home crowd drew encouragement from the opportunity, and it wasn’t long before Lembikisa had them believing that a comeback was on the cards. This time the roles were reversed as Vargas turned creator, driving forward with the ball to the edge of the Rangers box.

Again, there are acres of free space at the back post, and this time Lembikisa rushes to occupy it. The ball in from Vargas is excellent, and the finish is well taken.

The third and final goal wasn’t quite as sophisticated from a tactical perspective. It was the very definition of a kitchen-sink goal (although, take nothing away from Tagawa’s sublime finish) but it was no less than the men in maroon deserved. It ensured that Hearts finished the campaign with a spring in their step and their Rangers hoodoo behind them; an exciting end to a season where the team have taken great strides forward.