The hostile atmosphere that greeted the former Hearts manager in Gorgie was punctured early on by delirious cheers from the small wedge of his new adoring Rangers public away to his right, as red-hot Kevin Kelsy put the Ibrox side ahead with a composed finish.

But a couple of minutes after the interval, Claudio Braga bundled home from close range to draw the hosts level, which was no more than they deserved on the balance of play, and the Portuguese forward then had a massive hand in a quickfire second for the hosts as they turned this contest on its head.

A heavy touch by Kim Minsu saw Braga pick the ball up and barrel towards goal, where his cross broke kindly for Calvin Miller to slam home at the back stick, as cheers replaced the jeers from 19,000-odd throats wrapped in maroon and white scarves.

Just as it looked as though Hearts had exorcised the ghosts of their thumping defeat at Celtic Park, though, and reminded everyone that they are very much intending to be part of the three-way tussle at the top this season, a brilliantly placed header by Olwethu Makhanya made sure that McInnes had the last laugh at the death.

Here are the talking points from a raucous Tynecastle…

McInnes reception overtaken by events

All eyes and cameras were trained on the Tynecastle tunnel for the emergence of McInnes at his old stomping ground, with the Hearts fans warming up their vocal cords with a smattering of boos for Lawrence Shankland as he buried his face in his Rangers jacket and took his seat behind the dugout.

That grew to a loud crescendo as the man who, just a few months ago, came within minutes of having a statue outside this place, emerged to take his spot in the technical area.

For all that the build-up centred upon the hostile reception that McInnes might receive though, in truth, it was something of a sideshow to the main event in the end. In time, what McInnes did here will likely be looked upon fondly, as will the man himself. Particularly if his teams keep throwing away leads whenever they visit.

By the end though, it was the absorbing contest on the pitch that was the real story of the night.

Birthday boy Braga deserves to steal spotlight from former mentor

There has been a feeling so far this term that Braga, the best player in the Premiership last season, had yet to quite hit the heights of that memorable debut campaign in Scotland. It is fair to say he laid that notion to rest here.

Wouter Vrancken opted to drop James Wilson from the sharp end of his attack after the win over Motherwell at the weekend, pushing Braga further up the pitch to lead the line. He did so typically tirelessly, harassing Rangers defenders, holding the ball up, and crucially, getting himself into dangerous areas to make a telling contribution to the game.

There were warm words exchanged in their respective pre-match press conferences between Braga and McInnes, who shared a special season together no matter how heartbreaking the ultimate outcome back in May.

But McInnes may now be regretting ever playing a part in bringing the brilliant hitman to Scotland.

Hearts battered, bruised, but not bowed

Hearts manager Vrancken has bemoaned the inadequate preparation from his club for the hectic early season games programme as he has watched his players dropping like flies over the past few weeks. And his head was in his hands again as winger-turned-full back Rogers Mato went down with no one near him and hobbled off during the first half.

Such is the scale of the injury issues at Tynecastle, it can’t be long before Hearts coach Lee Wallace is forced to dust the old boots off.

That makes what Vrancken is managing to wring from those who are still standing all the more impressive. His squad is being tested and stretched to its full capacity and beyond, but somehow, they are hanging in there.

He, and Hearts, will be devastated not to have seen this one out, but they should be proud of their performance, and particularly, their reaction to the recent embarrassment against the other half of the Old Firm.

Just one change for Rangers, but the wrong one

After the thumping win over St Johnstone at the weekend, it was no surprise to see McInnes sticking largely along the same lines with his team for this one, with the only eyebrow raiser being the decision to plump for Djeidi Gassama over Badredine Bouanani - citing an issue with cramp - and shunting Kim Minsu over to the right.

Not that Gassama hasn’t been impressive at times for Rangers this season, but given how well Bouanani has shown up of late, he would have been disappointed to find himself on the bench for this one. As too would have more than a few Rangers supporters.

In truth, Gassama didn’t do anywhere near enough to justify his manager’s faith. After 54 minutes, McInnes conceded his error, sending for Bouanani. But by that time, the momentum had shifted.

Still, Bouanani showed more of a threat within his first few minutes on the field than Gassama had managed all night, and eventually, Rangers were able to salvage something from the contest. Although, it might have been even better…

Sterling blows his big chance

With a minute of regulation time remaining, and trailing by a goal, Rangers would surely have bitten your hand off for the point they ultimately left with. But deep into stoppage time, Dujon Sterling blew a golden opportunity to complete a stunning late turnaround.

The ball was whipped into the area, and Tynecastle held its breath as the Rangers defender – free as a bird - rose to meet it. Inexplicably, though, he decided to attempt to take it down on his chest rather than just sticking his neck muscles through it, and a glaring opportunity for a remarkable win was gone.

It is early days, of course, but that felt like one that gone away, and it may come back to bite Rangers down the line.