First half goals from Stuart Findlay and Lawrence Shankland floored Rangers at Tynecastle Park on Sunday afternoon, as the Jambos tightened their grip at the William Hill Premiership summit.
The men in maroon made it back-to-back wins against the Ibrox side in our penultimate match of 2025, with three points in Gorgie extending the gap with second placed Celtic to six points ahead of next week's Edinburgh derby.
Stuart Findlay's header from a well worked corner routine drew first blood, before Lawrence Shankland's strike from the tightest of angles as the half drew to a close proved to be enough to send the Ibrox side back along the M8 with their tail between their legs.
Derek McInnes made two tweaks to the Hearts side that defeated Falkirk last weekend: goalcorer Stephen Kingsley replacing the suspended Harry Milne, with Frankie Kent stepping into the centre of defence in place of the injured Craig Halkett - the defender sustaining a minor knee issue during training in the build up.
As expected, proceedings started at breakneck pace, and Rangers landed the first punch after just ten minutes of play; Emmanuel Fernandez pouncing on James Tavernier's corner and poking beyond Schwolow to put the hosts in front, albeit briefly.
Subsequent footage was reviewed by VAR, and Fernandez was found to be well offside, with the Tynecastle crowd letting out a defiant roar when the check was complete, and the goal struck off.
Hearts then went on the counter after 16 minutes, catching Rangers out and pressing forwards before Alexandros Kyziridis screwed a spectacular ranged effort just wide after cutting in off the right.
It remained open, and Schwolow made a good save after 22 minutes to tip a Mikey Moore effort away from danger, before Jayden Meghoma's effort on the rebound was deflected behind by a Frankie Kent block.
The game settled into a rhythm after that, but things exploded into life after 38 minutes as the Jambos raced into the lead.
A perfectly worked short corner routine saw the ball quickly played back to Kyziridis, who advanced into the box and swung a cross in, finding the head of Stuart Findlay with pinpoint accuracy as he slammed a perfect header into the top corner beyond the reach of Jack Butland.
Hearts weren't done with Rangers yet, and added a second just minutes later.
A long ball forward was headed forward by Oisin McEntee, who headed again to put the ball into the path of Lawrence Shankland; the skipper went for the byline and, working at the tightest of angles, sliced the ball with expert placement to make it 2-0 to the men in maroon.
HT: Heart of Midlothian 2-0 Rangers
Hearts had a huge chance to finish Rangers off on the hour mark after play resumed; a mazy run from Kyziridis stormed the box, unlocking their defence, before the Greek slid the ball across goal to Shankland - the skipper poking just wide.
In the space of ten minutes, Jack Butland made three saves to deny Lawrence Shankland and Frankie Kent; holding a deflected effort, getting down to his right to save another from the maroon skipper following a counter, before claiming a Kent header from a Hearts corner.
The Jambos kept up the pressure, but Rangers were able to limit chances as the half went into the final stanza of the last ten minutes.
Subs were thrown on to see if a third could be added, and Alan Forrest saw his effort deflected behind by an orange shirt.
With four minutes of added time, Rangers had a last throw of the dice, and Youssef Chermiti added a late consolation with the final action of the match that amounted to nothing.
Have a Merry Christmas when it comes, Jambos. We'll see you at Easter Road soon...
Hearts: Schwolow, Kent, Kingsley (McCart 88'), Shankland (Kabangu 90+2'), Braga (Forrest 83'), Devlin, Steinwender, Findlay, Magnusson (Baningime 83'), McEntee, Kyziridis (Kerjota 88')
Subs: Gordon, McCart, Baningime, Kabangu, Borchgrevink, Spittal, Forrest, Wilson, Kerjota
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier (Gassama 63'), Arrons, Barron (Aasgaard 74'), Diomande (Chermitti 45'), Sterling (Nsiala 81'), Miovski (Danilo 74'), Meghoma, Fernandez, Raskin, Moore
Subs: Kelly, Chermiti, Aasgaard, Nsiala, Dowell, Gassama, Adamson, Curtis, Danilo
Attendance: 18,829
