Rangers moved to the top of the Cinch Premiership following a comfortable 3-0 victory over St Johnstone in Perth. It takes them two points clear of Celtic while also giving them a superior goal difference of three and tips the balance of the title race firmly in their favour.
A James Tavenier double and a wonder strike by Mohammed Diomande were enough for Rangers to take all three points on the road.
It was an uneventful opening half hour in Perth with both sides struggling on a difficult surface. Rangers were the dominant side but were wasteful in possession resulting in a lack of clear cut chances.
This was all forgotten however in the 37th minute after a wonder strike by Mohammed Diomande. The Ivorian midfielder unleashed his strike from 25 yards to pick out the bottom right hand corner. It was the first moment of real quality in the game and it was enough to have the visitors ahead at the break.
Philippe Clement would have been demanding more from his players at the interval and he almost got the perfect response. Just moments after the restart loanee Fabio Silva went close with his acrobatic effort. However a quality fave by Dimitar Mitov kept this game finely poised.
The Rangers boss made a number of changes in his attempt to try and kill this game off. Sterling, Lawrence, Dessers and McCausland were all introduced in the second half replenishing the visitors attacking options.
The Belgian almost saw an immediate reaction in the 75th minute when substitute Dujon Sterling worked his way into the box before being taken down by Ryan McGowan. Initially referee Matthew McDermid waved away the penalty appeal, but after taking a look at the VAR monitor he reversed his decision and pointed to the spot.
Rangers captain Tavernier stepped up and cooly slotted the ball past Mitov into the back of the net to make it 2-0 to Rangers.
Just 10 minutes later Rangers had their third and it once again came from the penalty spot. Another VAR review this time for a handball from Luke Robinson awarded a penalty and James Tavernier made no mistake riffling the ball into the roof of the net.
It’s a result that leaves Rangers top of the Premiership table and ahead of nearest rivals Celtic by 2 points.
For St Johnstone it’s a third league defeat in a row that leaves them in 10th place in the table.
