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Yellow cards for Nigeria's Balogun and Aribo as Hearts pick up late draw against Rangers

Nigeria internationals Joseph Ayodele-Aribo and Leon Balogun were yellow-carded as Rangers and Hearts registered a 1-1 Scottish Premiership draw at Ibrox on Saturday.

John Lundstram and Craig Halket scored for the home side and the visitors respectively in a tense match where eight yellow cards were flashed out. 

Craig Gordon ensured Hearts did not score in the fifth minute when he denied Rangers' Scott Wright a chance to find the back of the net with a powerful strike at the edge of the box.

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Wright put more pressure on Hearts and he could have easily assisted Alfredo Morelos to break the deadlock in the 14th minute but the latter's effort slid out by inches.

Alexander Cochrane became the first player to be yellow-carded after he stopped Rangers' counter-attack by committing a foul in the 16th minute.

As Rangers remained dominant, Connor Goldson - who was later booked for a mistimed challenge to stop Hearts' counter-attack - wasted a chance in the 17th minute when he sent his header wide from a narrow-angle. 

Balogun came close to scoring the opener from a corner at the half-hour mark but Gordon's double-save kept the score at 0-0 as the hosts persisted in search of a goal. 

Aribo was yellow-carded in the 35th minute after he committed a foul and two minutes later, Hearts' Benni Baningime was cautioned for a rough challenge on Morelos. 

In the 40th minute, the Rangers' resilience was rewarded with an opening goal when Lundstram found the back of the net with a perfect hit. As the second half began, Nigeria's Balogun was yellow-carded for a challenge that halted Hearts' counter-attack in the 47th minute.

At the hour mark, Steven Gerrard made a change when he brought Juninho Bacuna on, in place of Wright. Bacuna almost made an instant impact a minute after his introduction when he cut inside from the left wing, but his effort was saved at the near post.

Rangers' Allan McGregor made a brilliant save in the 70th minute to deny Liam Boyce before he was called to action moments later when Barrie McKay looked certain to equalise for the visitors.

Hearts finally scored in the 90th minute with a header from Halkett at the back post.

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