At this stage of the season, winning is really all that matters for Rangers as they look to claim what would have been an unlikely league title seven months ago.
Performances are secondary and perhaps it is just as well because Danny Rohl’s side have yet to fully convince despite churning out victories.
Here they created more chances than United and ultimately deserved their win – but in the first half their midfield struggled and they relied on some poor defending from the visitors to get in front.
Firstly, Naderi was presented with a gift by goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer when he flapped at Aasgaard’s shot from the edge of the box.
And then Rangers capitalised when Naderi was completely unmarked at a throw-in, eventually working the ball to Sterling who did enough to convert with some help from Iovu.
The introduction of Gassama and Youssef Chermiti at half-time improved Rangers as an attacking force, with the former delivering the ball on a plate for Aasgaard to make it 3-1.
While Chermiti’s driving run and pass helped Miovksi score the crucial fourth goal, the Portuguese striker should have netted at least one himself when presented with good chances.
That profligacy and slack defending from John Souttar and Jayden Meghoma, as well as an open approach to the game, meant the home fans had to suffer a far more nervous ending than they should have.
But the importance of applying psychological pressure to Hearts by usurping them, however briefly it may be, was huge and Rangers did enough to make it happen.
As for United, this was a microcosm of their season. A lot of good pressure without the ball, as well as Fatah and others shining on the break.
The Swedish forward’s clean finish after stepping inside Souttar following a driving run from Emmanuel Agyei was superb. As was his pass inside Meghoma for Luca Stephenson, who set up Sapsford for the second goal.
However, they were held back by some really poor defending. The mistakes for the first two goals in particular were frustrating given the positive start United had made.
The fact they have not won back-to-back league games this season sums up their inconsistency and even manager Jim Goodwin would probably concede they do not deserve to finish in the top half.