Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Rangers 2-0 Heart of Midlothian
Sunday, 21 April 2024
Hampden Park, Glasgow

Rangers and Heart of Midlothian met at Hampden Park to decide who would be progressing to the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup Final to face Celtic. It will be an all Glasgow final as a Cyriel Dessers brace booked Rangers their place in the final.

Scorers

Rangers 2 (Cyriel Dessers 5’, 77’)

Heart of Midlothian 0

As It Happened

It was Rangers who took an early lead of the game, scoring in the first five minutes. Todd Cantwell played the ball into the box to Cyriel Dessers who took a touch away from the incoming Hearts defender before firing the ball into the back of the net to give his side the early advantage.

Hearts came close to equalising a number of times in quick succession around the 20 minute mark. Kenneth Vargas saw his effort from distance go wide of the left hand post before an Alan Forrest shot from a tight angle was denied by the feet of Jack Butland. Less than a minute later and Hearts had probably their best chance of the first half. Frankie Kent found himself in the 6 yard box and tried to squeeze the ball past Jack Butland into the net however Butland reacted quickly to deny it and keep his sides 1-0 lead going into half time.

The Hearts fans though their side had got the equaliser in the 73rd minute. Barrie McKay played a high ball into the box which was met by the head of Lawrence Shankland however the captains bullet header went into side netting.

Rangers doubled their lead in the 77th minute. Todd Cantwell ran half the length of the pitch before slipping the ball wide to Cyriel Dessers in the box. Dessers initial effort was saved by Craig Gordon however the Rangers striker reacted quickly to gather the rebound and slot it into the back of the net.

Hearts had the chance to get a goal back a minute before the 90 was up when Yutaro Oda took a shot from the centre of the box however a powerful save from Jack Butland ensured Rangers kept their clean sheet.

Line-ups

Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Lundstram, Souttar, Dessers, Cantwell (Lawrence 79’), Matondo (Silva 62’), Sima (McCausland 15’), Sterling (Barisic 79’), Balogun, Diomande (Raskin 79’)

Unused Substitutes: McCrorie, Goldson, Dowell, Roofe

Heart of Midlothian: Gordon, Kent, Kingsley, Baningime, Grant (McKay 59’), Shankland, Atkinson (Lembikisa 59’), Devlin (Tait 72’), Rowles, Forrest (Oda 59’), Vargas (Tagawa 72’)

Unused Substitutes: Clark, Cochrane, Denholm, Fraser