Gers go 5 points clear of Celtic
Gerrard admits he gave stars a slagging for taking foot off gas as Blues hit table top
STEVEN GERRARD last night admitted he’s a moaner after watching his team hit the top of the Premiership with their third straight win and clean sheet.
Rangers beat St Johnstone at Ibrox to move above Hibs on goal difference with
RELENTLESS Rangers soared to the top of the table and moved five points clear of Celtic with another straightforward victory at Ibrox
Goals from Borna Barisic, Ryan Kent and Joe Aribo were enough to secure a second 3-0 win on the spin and move Steven Gerrard’s men ahead of Hibs on goal difference.
With Celtic inactive – and will be again at the weekend – the Ibrox side look hellbent on putting clear daylight between themselves and the champions.
And although last night’s victory wasn’t as slick as Saturday’s over St Mirren, it was more than enough to satisfy their manager, who was able to give Kemar Roofe a second-half debut.
Gerrard kept faith with the starting XI that bagged the points against St Mirren but there was a place on the bench for new boy Roofe for the first time since his move from Anderlecht.
Rangers’ other new striker Cedric Itten, who made his debut as a sub on Sunday, was also placed on standby.
At the other end of the pitch, keeper Allan McGregor’s continued absence – he had a scan on Monday – meant Jon McLaughlin had the chance to continue his fine start to life at Ibrox.
St Johnstone arrived in Govan having had the weekend off due to some of the Aberdeen squad’s contravention of coronavirus rules and they were looking to build on the draw they achieved at Tannadice on the first day of the season.
Callum Davidson was missing Michael O’Halloran, suspended after being sent off against Dundee United, but he gave the experienced wide man Craig Conway a debut in his place.
In a 4-2-3-1 formation with Joe Aribo playing in the No.10 role behind Alfredo Morelos, the home team started on the front foot but the yellowshirted visitors carved out the first real chance in the fifth minute and Rangers had to thank for keeping them on level terms.
David Wotherspoon released Callum Hendry and the striker, who scored against Gerrard’s men last term, turned Leon Balogun inside out before firing a low effort from 18 yards that forced the keeper to dive low to his right and save at full stretch.
It was a top-class save and an early warning that the home team weren’t going to have everything their own way. The Perth outfit were hunting in packs and energetically closing down their opponents, who were looking far more lethargic than they had done at the weekend and were struggling to find anything in the way of creativity or penetration.
Until the 19th minute when a sudden burst of activity on the edge of the Saints box forced Wotherspoon to lunge in on Morelos and concede a free-kick just right of centre.
Barisic stepped up and swerved a magnificent leftMcLaughlin footer over the wall and into Elliot Parish’s top-left corner.
It was a stunning strike and a moment of inspiration that Rangers sorely needed.
Suddenly they looked energised, zipped the ball around with more purpose and after a lengthy spell of possession they carved out another chance in the 28th minute.
But Morelos’ sharp turn on the 18-yard line wasn’t quite matched with the quality of the finish that fizzed over the top. St Johnstone’s forays into home territory became less frequent as the half wore on, although Conway did briefly threaten with a surging run down the right that was snuffed out by a Connor Goldson-Balogun double act.
But right on the stroke of the interval Rangers produced the move of the match to give themselves a two-goal cushion.
A slick passing exchange started by Aribo led to Ianis Hagi feeding the rampaging Barisic in the wide area and his customary accurate cross into the middle saw Kent pounce with a first-time, leftfoot drive from 12 yards.
Seconds later they bounced
down the tunnel believing another three points had been all but secured at the halfway stage.
Rangers restarted with Filip Helander on for Balogun at the back and within three minutes had added to their tally.
Parish denied Morelos with a fine save but from the corner James Tavernier picked out Aribo at the near post and a flick of the head was all that was needed to send the ball into the corner of the net.
A promising start was threatening to turn into an ordeal for the away side as Rangers ramped it up and Kent almost added a fourth after a rat-a-tat of passes around the edge of the box.
Gerrard made four changes on the hour mark, giving a debut to Roofe, alongside Itten, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield. Kent, Jack, Aribo and Morelos came off and Rangers went 4-3-3 with Roofe playing on the left and Itten through the middle.
The changes disrupted Rangers’ fluency and St Johnstone sub Isaac Olafe, almost scored on the breakaway, only for Helander to step in and snuff out the danger.
Itten was looking lively, though, and should have had a penalty when he was caught by Callum Booth in the 71st minute. The Swiss striker tried to stay on his feet before going down but referee Euan Anderson waved play on.
Roofe survived a clattering from Liam Gordon a few minutes later and the Perth defender got away with a yellow card. But despite the intensity of that tackle, much of the fizz had gone out of the game.
Hagi rattled the sidenetting as the game moved into injury time but Rangers had done their work for the night and done it comfortably enough.