“Now it’s Motherwell” – Braga and co focused on Fir Park after seismic win
PFA Player of the Season and Hearts star Claudio Braga has urged his teammates to remain “professional” after reestablishing their three-point gap at the summit of the Scottish Premiership. A second-half comeback against Rangers extends the Jambo’s unbeaten home league run and secured a club-record points tally of 76. Speaking at full-time, Braga described their latest triumph as “crazy”. “We were all in the locker room, everybody was looking at each other, like ‘it’s three games to go and we are still top of the league’. “It’s not even easy to describe it with words, I’m not going to lie. It’s just a crazy feeling.” The Portuguese star has been a fan favourite in Gorgie, and insists that managing the excitement of their title challenge can be difficult. “It’s hard, I’m not going to lie, but we try to be as professional as we can,” “It’s been a long time that people have been saying that maybe this could be possible. “We’ve already had that [outside noise], and through the championship we have just taken it game by game. We dealt with Rangers, and now it’s Motherwell, and that’s it. We don’t care about Falkirk or Celtic for now, and hopefully we win that game, and then we go for the next one.”
“We’re in a really difficult situation now” – Danny Rohl
Two damaging results for Rangers now leaves them distant from the title, as Danny Rohl acknowledges the difficult position his side now face. Rangers faced back-to-back defeats in the first two fixtures of the top-six split, which has left them far a drift from the title. Hearts were 2-1 winners in yesterday’s crucial fixture. Dujon Sterling opened the scoring for Rangers. However, an amazing second half performance from Hearts saw Stephen Kingsley and Lawrence Shankland score the all-important goal to crush Rangers’ title hopes. After the match, Danny Rohl said: “I think there’s no question mark. We’re in a really difficult situation now. “I think we worked so hard to come so close in the last two games. It’s not enough when you play just one half on your best level. “We have to show courage, and this is what I expect and demand of my players in the next three games, to take three fantastic results.” The title race seems to be beyond Rangers now, leaving Rohl’s side with far too much to do in the final three fixtures after what was a disastrous last two matches. They have Celtic to come next, as Martin O’ Neill’s side look to put some pressure on Hearts. Then a final home fixture against Hibs, before a trip to Falkirk to conclude the season. Hearts play Motherwell away from home, before welcoming Falkirk to Tynecastle and ending the season of at Celtic Park in hope to seal the title.
