Garang Kuol rescues point for Hearts late on against Rangers

By Sports Desk May 24, 2023

Substitute Garang Kuol grabbed a dramatic stoppage-time leveller as Hearts fought back to draw 2-2 with Rangers at Ibrox.

The Jambos needed a win for their bid for third place in the cinch Premiership and skipper Lawrence Shankland sensationally opened the scoring after less than a minute.

It took until added time in the first half for Rangers midfielder Todd Cantwell to level.

Attacker Fashion Sakala put Rangers ahead in the 47th minute but in the final seconds of three added minutes Kuol took advantage of some slackness to fire in the equaliser.

Michael Beale’s side are unbeaten in 19 home league games, with 16 victories and three draws, which is a positive.

But with Aberdeen dismissing St Mirren at Pittodrie, Hearts cannot catch the Dons, who will finish best of the rest outside the Old Firm.

Rangers, who will be runners-up behind Celtic, finish their season with a trip to St Mirren on Saturday but already planning is under way for next season.

The Light Blues announced before the game that 25-year-old midfielder Kieran Dowell would be joining the club from Norwich.

The club also asked fans to stay behind to pay tribute to Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Scott Arfield and Filip Helander, all of whom will leave in the summer.

McGregor and Morelos started the game but ideas that it would be simply a sentimental night of reflection ended within seconds, following a long throw into the Rangers penalty area from Hearts defender James Hill.

Jambos midfielder Peter Haring helped it on, Rangers skipper James Tavernier tried to clear but only to Shankland whose header hit team-mate Josh Ginnelly and fell back to him to bundle over the line from two yards.

After a long VAR check referee John Beaton pointed to the centre circle and Hearts were officially in front.

Minutes later Haring sent Ginnelly through and his drive after turning defender Leon King was beaten away by McGregor.

It was not the start the home fans expected and the Rangers reaction was hesitant.

Hearts keeper Zander Clark had to deal with King’s long-range drive which deflected off Hill and Nicolas Raskin’s thunderbolt from distance before tipping a Sakala drive on to the post and behind.

Jambos interim boss Steven Naismith, a former Rangers striker, was booked for throwing on a ball to waste time just before the interval but there was time for Cantwell to get the break of the ball off Hill to run through and confidently slot the ball past Clark, with Morelos carrying on a feud with Naismith that had lasted a few minutes.

Two minutes after the restart Sakala took advantage of a slack header by defender Toby Sibbick at the edge of the box to squeeze the ball past Clark with the backtracking Hill unable to keep it out.

In the 64th minute Arfield got a huge cheer from the home fans when he came on as substitute along with Rabbi Matondo, with Glen Kamara and King making way.

Arfield’s curling shot from the edge of the box in the 73rd minute was pushed behind by Clark and the visitors survived the corner, albeit they seemed to be running out of belief.

Arfield had a shot from six yards blocked by Clark before Cantwell fired the rebound wide of the target.

Morelos got his acclaim when he was replaced by Scott Wright and the home side spurned more opportunities as the game fizzled out, only for Kuol, on for Alan Forrest in the 83rd minute, to pounce at the end to spoil the going away party.

Related items

  • Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner

    Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training. 

    Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term. 

    The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.

    She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.

    But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.

    "We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said. 

    "But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.

    "So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.

    "The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.

    "But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."

  • Man United could be without Toone until Christmas, says Skinner Man United could be without Toone until Christmas, says Skinner

    Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training. 

    Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term. 

    The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.

    She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.

    But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.

    "We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said. 

    "But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.

    "So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.

    "The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.

    "But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."

  • Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run. 

    Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.

    The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.

    However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.

    Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang. 

    The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.

    Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.