When ref Charlie Richmond eventually brought four minutes of injury time to a close, a collective sigh of relief was almost audible as the Light Blues hung on for three vital points.
Remarkably, after being written off after the recent Old Firm defeat, this win took Rangers back to the summit of the SPL ahead of Celtic’s home fixture with Aberdeen tomorrow.
With just two games remaining, the Light Blues still have a great chance of clinching their 51st league title as the championship chase threatens to once more go right to the wire. Hold on to your hats.
There was no sign of the late struggle that would ensue when Rangers forged into an early lead.
In the match programme Nacho Novo had revealed that, if he couldn’t score himself, he would settle for the role of creator and after just eight minutes he was as true as his word.
The goal stemmed from a fantastic flowing move starting with Fernando Ricksen – again utilised at full-back – threading a low pass into Dado Prso who nudged a lay-off to the dashing Novo.
The Spaniard weaved his way across the perimeter of the Hearts penalty box, rounded Robbie Neilson before dinking an effort that Andy Webster desperately scooped off the goal line.
Relief for the Edinburgh side would prove temporary, however, as Buffel pounced to nod the rebound beyond Craig Gordon to hand Gers an early lead.
Much had been written about the Belgian’s desire to play “in the hole” and here he showed why with a series of neat touches and inter-linking play between Prso and the Rangers midfield.
If Prso was unhappy about the task of having to perform without another striker alongside him, he never showed it.
The Croatian’s tireless running and nimble footwork created space for a shot that Gordon collected comfortably before the goalkeeper again denied the striker with a fantastic save after Prso had been played in by Novo.
In a first-half dominated by the home side, Prso then passed up a far simpler chance when he slashed at a short Gregory Vignal free kick inside the penalty box with Andrews – perhaps not expecting the pass – unable to direct the loose ball on target.
Traffic congestion meant Hearts only arrived at Ibrox 45 minutes before kick-off and on the pitch they failed to get out of first gear as well.
Playing with just Lee Miller up front, they failed to create a single opportunity from open play in the entire first half.
The only anxious moments for Ronald Waterreus, a laid-back fellow at the best of times, came from a pair of Paul Hartley free kicks midway through the half.
The keeper did well to scramble the first attempt around his post but was barely troubled by Hartley’s weak second set-piece.
The Tynecastle side would pay for their failure to convert those chances when Rangers stretched their lead three minutes before the break.
Novo again had a role to play, nodding Vignal’s corner back into the penalty box where it was cleared only as far as Buffel lurking at the edge of the penalty area.
The midfielder’s shot was maybe drifting just wide but Andrews stuck out a leg to divert it beyond Gordon thus ending any doubt.
That the Trinidadian is fit to play at all remains something of a miracle and as he roared his thanks skyward after netting his fourth goal of the season you began to wonder if there might be something in this faith healing business after all.
A thundering challenge on Joe Hamill later in the game proved there was nothing amiss with Andrews’ defending either with his inadvertent late own goal the only blot on an otherwise outstanding contribution.
Hearts, curiously, brought off the in-form Miller at half-time and replaced him with Dennis Wyness but it did little to alter the flow of play towards Gordon’s goal.
Novo’s trickery earned him a free kick wide on the touchline and, from Vignal’s delivery, the Hearts keeper was at full stretch to keep out Buffel’s controlled dunt from just inside the box.
Perhaps with his side’s goal difference in mind, McLeish replaced Peter Lovenkrands with Shota Arveladze and the Georgian almost made an immediate impact as Gers looked to extend their lead.
A prolonged series of passes among the Rangers midfield culminated in Prso feeding Arveladze wide left and when his cutback found Buffel the Belgian rattled the underside of the crossbar with a ferocious drive.
Saulius Mikoliunas’ last appearance against Rangers saw him notoriously earn an eight-match ban for shoving linesman Andy Davis and his contribution here was no more savoury.
A fly kick at Barry Ferguson earned him a stern talking to from the referee while an outrageous dive in the Rangers penalty box was again not deemed worthy of a booking.
The Lithuanian completed a shameful 10-minute spell by finally picking up a booking for dissent before John Robertson hauled him off before he was sent off.
Hearts were thrown a lifeline six minutes from time when Andrews glanced Michael Stewart’s free kick into his own net before substitute Steven Thompson struck the Hearts crossbar with a left-foot drive after robbing Webster of the ball.
It meant an anxious few minutes for the home fans to endure before the final whistle sounded a return to the top of the table.
RANGERS (4-4-1-1): 25 Waterreus; 2 Ricksen, 16 Kyrgiakos, 5 Andrews, 24 Vignal; 10 Novo, 6 Ferguson, 8 A Rae, 26 Lovenkrands (Arveladze 59); 4 Buffel (Burke 79); 10 Prso (Thompson 73)
Subs not used: McGregor, McCormack, S Smith, Malcolm
Booked: Vignal (65)
HEARTS (4-1-4-1): 1 Gordon; 12 Neilson, 4 Pressley, 6 Webster, 39 Wallace; 11 Macfarlane; 23 Mikoliunas (Simmons 73), 10 Hartley, 22 Stewart, 19 Hamill (Burchill 66); 9 Miller (Wyness 46)
Subs not used: Moilanen, Tierney, Sives, Pelosi
Booked: Wallace (30), Mikoliunas (71)
Man of the Match: Marvin Andrews