THE END IS HIGH

Clement faces a finale with flaky Celts that'll see him crowned king or labelled the Belgian Beale

- KEITH JACKSON

AFTER the extreme excitement of the first one, Hampden probably needed something a bit more moderate, maybe even mundane.

And that's what the old place got yesterday as Rangers eliminated Hearts with the minimum of fuss, in a game which was as good as over from the moment Cyriel Dessers rolled his side into an early lead.

So when Dessers doubled up with another one near the end it removed all remaining doubt.

In between times Hearts offered some huffing and puffing but never anything that meant the Ibrox men were significantly troubled.

No dramatic plot twists. No game-changing VAR decisions. No goalkeepers mentally malfunctioning during penalties. There wasn't even a great deal of football to focus on in between all the long-ball hoofing and tigerish tackling, just a rolling brawl with the ball in the middle.

In the hustle and bustle of it all, Todd Cantwell and Mohamed Diomande produced occasional nuggets of gold and sprinkled them around a congested midfield. Their quality was ultimately the difference between the two sides.

And yet, for Rangers and Philippe Clement, this win, as straightforward as it was to achieve, might in retrospect be looked upon as a key moment in a tumultuous season.

Because it means the Belgian will have the chance to bring down the curtain on his first campaign with another shot at Celtic and perhaps an opportunity to buy himself some breathing space for the summer, should it transpire the damage has already been done to his hopes of landing the league title.