SPL wrap: Rangers break Hearts, Kilmarnock keep pace

Rangers cut Celtic’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to five points with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox.

The hosts did not have to wait long to take the lead, with Northern Irish striker Kyle Lafferty finding himself on the end of a Steven Whittaker cross to blast a volley home from the edge of the box after only four minutes.

The game marked the Rangers debut of Blackburn winger El Hadji Diouf, who joined the club on loan on Monday.

Diouf came on for the injured Lee McCullough after just 20 minutes, while David Healy, who joined from Sunderland on Sunday, was an unused substitute for the Glasgow giants.

The defeat leaves Hearts five points behind Rangers in third place.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Kilmarnock strengthened their grip on a Europa League spot with a 1-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

Portuguese winger David Silva scored the only goal of the game nine minutes from the end as Kilmarnock consolidated fourth place on the table.

And Hibernian were too good for fellow relegation strugglers St Mirren, prevailing 2-0 at Easter Road to leapfrog the Saints into 10th place in the league.

Derek Riordan opened the scoring from close range just after the hour mark before David Wotherspoon scored a second three minutes into injury time to seal the result.