Allan McGregor was in ‘inspired form’ during Rangers’ 2-0 victory away at Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts, Tynecastle boss Robbie Neilson told the Edinburgh Live.
It’s a rare occurrence these days, when Craig Gordon is not the oldest man on the pitch.
But, as Heart of Midlothian welcomed Rangers to the Scottish capital on Sunday afternoon, their evergreen goalkeeper must have felt like a relative whippersnapper in comparison to his veteran counterpart at the other end of the pitch.
Once again, 39-year-old Allan McGregor proved that age is but a number. His reflexes remain as sharp as ever with his 40th birthday just six weeks away.
As Rangers maintained their 100 per cent Premiership record under new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, McGregor provided a reliable last line of defence, pulling off a series of top-class saves – including a brilliant double stop in the second half.
Is Allan McGregor the best goalkeeper in the Premiership?
“I thought he was really good today,” Neilson said of McGregor.
“We had chances where we probably shouldn’t have given him the opportunity to make the save. Our downfall was down to us because we had chances to score and win the game,” Neilson adds.
“There are some positives to take from it. We can control games and create chances. There is also the frustration that probably, on the balance of play, we were the better team today. However, they took their two moments.
“We passed the ball well, got into good areas, it’s just that final moment. McGregor was in inspired form.”
Alfredo Morelos opened the scoring at Tynecastle as Rangers, who have so often struggled at this stadium, put their Hearts hoodoo behind them at the fourth time of asking.
The in-form Joe Aribo then doubled the scoring, beautifully controlling Connor Goldson’s raking pass before slotting home in a manner reminiscent of that famous Frank de Boer-Dennis Bergkamp goal from the 1998 World Cup.
A hard-earned – but well-deserved – win maintained Rangers’ four point lead over Old Firm rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race.
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