Hearts hands Rangers first defeat of season

Soccer Betting Lines

09/15/2007 - Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hearts entered its contest with Rangers on Saturday having won just one of its first five games this season. However, the Edinburgh club stunned the previously unbeaten Glasgow side 4-2 at Tynecastle Stadium.

Rangers had gone a perfect 5-0 to start the campaign, but were not prepared for the effort that the home team put forward. Andrew Driver and Ibrahim Tall had the home side ahead 2-0 after 27 minutes, and after Daniel Cousin converted from the penalty spot for Rangers shortly after the break, Hearts answered back with two goals of its own.

Michael Stewart made the most of his spot kick, and Kestutis Ivaskevicius scored four minutes later to give Hearts a commanding 4-1 lead.

DaMarcus Beasley scored in the 74th minute to bring Rangers to within two goals, but another win was never in the cards for Rangers on this day, and they dropped their first points all season.

Marius Zaliukas tried to find Andrius Ksanavicius with a pass inside the box. However, defender Carlos Cuellar poked the ball away. It ended up on the foot of Driver, and he cracked a shot towards goal that took a deflection off Alan Hutton and found the net.

Tall then doubled the lead for Hearts when he picked up a loose ball 20 yards from goal and smashed it past keeper Allan McGregor.

Barry Ferguson earned a penalty kick for Rangers shortly after halftime, and Cousin converted to tighten things up.

However, Hutton's day got worse as he was whistled for a foul inside the area on Ivaskevicius. Stewart then struck the penalty low into the right corner to restore the two-goal edge for Hearts.

Ivaskevicius put it out of reach four minutes later, and Beasley continued his good start to the season by pulling one back for Rangers in the 74th.

In other action in Scotland on Saturday, Celtic took over the top spot in Scotland with a 5-0 pounding of Inverness, Motherwell stopped Aberdeen 2-1 at Pittodrie Stadium, Kilmarnock held off Gretna 2-1 and Falkirk and Hibernian split the points in 1-1 fashion.

The league will finish up on Sunday as St Mirren will try to move to .500 with a victory over fourth-place Dundee United.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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