GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) – Rangers won their first Scottish Cup in over a decade after quickfire extra-time goals from substitutes Ryan Jack and Scott Wright helped them beat Hearts 2-0 in the final at Hampden Park on Saturday to ease their midweek Europa League heartache.
Hearts survived a flurry of late chances in normal time and had keeper Craig Gordon to thank for a remarkable save with his outstretched foot to deny Joe Aribo before Wright hit the bar.
Jack’s thunderous shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 94th minute finally broke Hearts’ resistance and Wright sealed the win by latching onto Ryan Kent’s pass and slotting the ball past the helpless Gordon.
“It means so much, this is the cup you grow up wanting to play in and it’s a dream to score in the final,” Wright told Premier Sports.
“I’ve been here before with Aberdeen and fallen short. I’m absolutely over the moon to score and even more so to win.”
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who won the competition twice as a player during his three-year spell at Ibrox, capped an eventful first season in charge by guiding the club to their first Scottish Cup triumph since 2009.
The Glasgow side missed out on Europa League glory after a penalty shootout defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday and relinquished their league crown to city rivals Celtic.
“The demand at Rangers is to win trophies. It was a massive disappointment on Wednesday and it was a wee bit flat at the start but we grinded away,” Jack said.
“We’ve always got to aim higher and today was another opportunity to kick on. It was a dream for me and Scott to score.
“Giovanni has just recently come in and he’s been first class. Hopefully with a pre-season under his belt we can go and compete in every competition next year.”
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
