Northern Ireland striker Liam Boyce enjoyed a dream debut for Hearts with a dramatic late winner against title-chasing Rangers at Tynecastle.
Boyce, who joined the Jambos from Burton Albion on Saturday, grabbed the headlines with a man of the match display when he struck in the 83rd minute to seal a 2-1 win.
Cutting inside Joe Aribo the former Cliftonville striker kept his cool inside a crowded penalty area to steer a low shot past Allan McGregor via a slight deflection off Borna Barisic.
The 28-year-old also provided an assist for Steven Naismith’s equaliser after Rangers got their noses in front through Ryan Kent’s two minutes into the second half.
“Unbelievable - it’s just the best start I could have wished for,” Boyce told Sky Sports.
“I only came in yesterday and hadn’t trained since Wednesday, so I didn’t know if I was going to be starting, but the gaffer put me in and thankfully we got the victory.”
Boyce had been struggling with a muscle injury and appeared to be struggling just minutes before the ball broke to him inside the Rangers penalty area for his goal.
He explained: “I had a tight quad at half-time and when I came out I got a dead leg on the outside of it and I actually said ‘give me another 10 minutes’.
“Big Toby (Sibbick) had to go off so I had to finish the game and thankfully I did stay on as I scored after it!”
Fellow goal scorer Naismith said: “When the big man (Boyce) hasn’t trained for half a week and puts in a performance like that, it can only get better for him.”
Rangers’ defeat at Tynecastle leaves Steven Gerrard’s men five points behind Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand.
Hearts stay rooted to the foot of the table, but they are now just a point below second bottom Hamilton and three adrift of St Mirren in 10th.
