Jon Daly had a chance to open the scoring early on for the visitors when he met a high cross into the box, but he could not test Neil Alexander with his header.

Ally McCoist's side continued to look the more likely throughout the opening 20 minutes, but were dealt a blow when Steven Smith was sent off for a high challenge on Callum Patterson.

Despite being down to 10 men, Rangers continued to look threatening in the first half, with Bilel Mohsni and Lee Wallace both missing the target before Nicky Law tested Alexander with a curling free kick.

Hearts had a strong finish to the half, with Alim Ozturk testing Steve Simonsen, before the Rangers keeper had to tip a Brad McKay strike onto the bar.

Ozturk was on the attack again at the start of the second half when he unleashed a 35-yard strike, but the low drive was just wide.

The home side finally made the most of their man advantage just before the hour mark when Rangers thought that they had cleared a Paterson corner, only for Jason Holt to latch on to the rebound, lashing it in from the edge of the box.

The visitors were almost back on level terms straight from the restart as Law collected the ball in the box before Darren McGregor saw his follow up shot turned onto post.

Daly battled hard to win a high ball forward before knocking it down for Lewis Macleod as Rangers continued to look for an equaliser, but he could also scuff his finish wide.

Billy King almost doubled the lead for Hearts inside the final 10 minutes when the visitors gave away possession inside their own half, but his long-range finish went wide.

The hosts did put the win beyond doubt shortly after when they were awarded a penalty after Ian Black bundled Jamie Walker down in the box, leaving the midfielder to fire the ball in from the spot.

The result increases Hearts' lead over Rangers at the top of the table to nine points.