Hearts chase history as Rangers reach critical point.

Hearts rallied from 3-0 down at home to Motherwell in their third game of a difficult league season, with Harry Milne scoring once and Claudio Braga, soon to be Tynecastle’s sweetheart, scoring twice off the bench.

It was the league’s first such act of escapism since 1969. Nobody could have recognised the significance at the time, other than that it was an admirable point for Derek McInnes’ team.

In truth, it was only the beginning of club and league benchmarks being shattered. Hearts have led the league since the first week of October, a feat not seen by a non-Old Firm club since Alex Ferguson was in his prime at Aberdeen.

As October gave way to November and November to December, Hearts persevered. Outside of Celtic and Rangers, they are the only team to have finished first in the league at Christmas since 1993, and they defeated the Old Firm twice in a single season for the first time since 1994-95.

They won four consecutive games against Celtic and Rangers for the first time since 1959-60.

Everyone was expecting the bubble to collapse, but it hasn’t. Injuries to important players have been overcome, and Hearts stay on top, with the gap reducing but never closing.

They remain unbeaten in their Tynecastle fortress, having played 17, won 13, drew four, had 10 clean sheets, scored 32 goals, and surrendered only 10.

If they avoid loss against Rangers on Monday and Falkirk on May 13, they will have completed an unbeaten home league season for the first time in four decades.

So the big two continue to play catch-up, putting their four-decade-long duopoly under pressure.

In this way, the Scottish top flight stands out. Two champion clubs in 40 years. There have been nine in England, seven in Germany, five in Spain, seven in Italy, and ten in France. Scotland’s top division is unique among the top-20 countries in the Uefa rankings, with only two teams dominating.

During the years of Old Firm domination, Poland, Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden each had ten or more top-tier league champions. That is why, for months, Hearts has been approached practically regularly by media agencies from all around the world.

This story has long since stopped being limited to Scotland. It is not even European anymore. Hearts’ pursuit of history has gone global.

The Rangers are at a key juncture in their season. If they make another mistake, they’re done.

If they lose on Monday, they will fall behind by seven points with three games remaining. Win, and this beautifully volatile season will take another big turn. Every bet would be off.

There wouldn’t be enough smelling salts in the country to meet demand, or enough brown paper bags for admirers of the three contestants to hyperventilate in.

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