Hearts stay top at Christmas with Rangers test looming — Bbc Scotland Football
Hearts remained top of the Scottish Premiership heading into Monday’s match against Rangers, and scotland football says that is the first time they have led at Christmas since 1993. The Edinburgh club have been in front since the first week of October, with a run that has kept the title race pointed squarely at Tynecastle.
Lawrence Shankland has scored three goals in two wins over Rangers this season, and Hearts have already beaten the Old Firm twice in one campaign for the first time since 1994-95. They also made another piece of club history by winning four straight games against Celtic and Rangers for the first time since 1959-60.
Tynecastle keeps delivering
Hearts have not lost a home league game this season. In 17 home league matches, they have won 13 and drawn four, kept 10 clean sheets, scored 32 goals and conceded 10. That record has turned Tynecastle into the base for a challenge that has gone beyond a normal fast start.
There is still a bigger target on the board. If Hearts avoid defeat against Rangers on Monday and Falkirk on 13 May, they can complete an unbeaten home league season for the first time in 40 years.
Rangers face the gap
The match matters for Rangers as much as it does for Hearts. If Rangers lose on Monday, they will be seven points behind with three games to go, a margin that would leave the leaders in control of the title race.
The scale of Hearts’ position stands out even more beside the spending power around them. Celtic spent almost £10m on two wingers last summer, and their starting side against 10-man Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday cost around £30m. Hearts’ record signing is Eduardo Ageu at £1.9m, and he has started one game.
Shankland and McInnes
Shankland has been central to the surge, while Derek McInnes has kept the group steady through the first half of the season. Claudio Braga and Harry Milne have also been part of a side that has stayed top from the first week of October through to Christmas.
The backdrop is obvious enough from the numbers. Only two clubs have won the Scottish top flight in 40 years, and Hearts are still alive in the challenge to break that pattern while the Rangers match arrives with the title race at its sharpest point.
