IN FOR THE LONG HAAL
It’s an Erling Xmas present for Gio as Ibrox men look like the league’s dominators again
RANGERS’ European exploits have set them on a collision course with “The Terminator”.
But the Ibrox faithful are hoping if their team carry on like this, the champions will be back to be crowned domestic dominators once again in May.
Monday’s Europa League draw has teed up a mouthwatering glamour tie with Borussia Dortmund.
That also means a face-off with their lethal goalscoring machine Erling Haaland, who was on the mark for the Germans again last night with a double in their 3-0 victory over Furth in the Bundesliga.
The Norwegian wonderkid is nicknamed after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cyborg assassin but Rangers are taking no prisoners themselves these days – as St Johnstone discovered last night.
It’s now seven games unbeaten under Giovanni van Bronckhorst as they refuse to let their iron grip on the title race slip.
Alfredo Morelos is back scoring regularly now and has moved on to 12 goals for the season after heading the Light Blues in front just before the break in Govan.
Ryan Kent is getting closer and closer to top form after his hamstring injury and he swept home the second to wrap up a sixth straight Premiership victory for the Ibrox men to the delight of their fans.
While Gers’ lead remains at four points after Celtic’s dramatic last-gasp winner in Dingwall, at least Saints got some good news by the time they trudged back to the dressing room to hear they still remain level on points with fellow strugglers Ross County.
Van Bronckhorst continues to fine-tune his side with minor tweaks here and there. It was the same last night.
At Tynecastle on Sunday, it was his deployment of Glen Kamara as an auxiliary centreback when required that helped nullify Heart’s threat as his side recorded their fourth clean sheet in six games.
He kept the adjustments to his line-up to the minimum too as Saints visited Govan, with Ianis Hagi returning to start in place of Fashion Sakala.
McDiarmid boss Callum Davidson was forced to adopt more radical measures as he sought an answer to the ongoing form crisis, which saw his side arrive in Glasgow having managed just one win in their last eight league games.
That miserable run means last season’s cup double bubble has been well and truly popped as the Perth side face up to the harsh reality they are now in a survival fight.
To be fair to Davidson, the loss of Hampden heroes Jason Kerr and Ali McCann has been a blow his squad simply wasn’t strong enough to sustain.
And talk about cruel luck, now the Saints boss has just been told key playmaker David Wootherspoon faces a nine-month lay-off with a knee injury.
He was hoping the arrival of Jacob Butterfield would inflate their confidence levels and it was no surprise to see the former £5million Derby ace thrown straight into the starting line-up alongside Reece Devine, Michael O’Halloran and Eetu Vertainen as Callum Booth, Craig Bryson, Chris Kane and on-loan Gers winger Glenn Middleton – barred from facing his parent club – dropped out.
Van Bronckhorst admitted this week he’s hoping to persuade Aribo and Kent to sign new deals as they enter the final 18 months of their current Ibrox contracts.
Right now, it’s the English duo holding the whip hand in negotiations with their form soaring.
It seemed like the pair were on a mission to beat the visitors on their own early on.
It took a strong hand from Zander Clark to deny Kent eight minutes in after the winger twisted Shaun Rooney inside out.
Saints were having it no easier reading Aribo’s dancing feet and it was only the upright that saved them four minutes later as the former Charlton playmaker let fly with a shot which fizzed through the air before bouncing to safety.
But it was relentless pressure from Rangers, with St Johnstone only able to clear the ball for a moment or two before it came straight back at them.
Rooney did better to get back on to his own goalline to make a last-ditch tackle when Aribo tried to pick out Kent’s run at the back post.
However, when Morelos delayed pulling the trigger five yards out – allowing James Brown in to rescue Davidson’s team again – some of those
inside Ibrox began to fear Gers were returning to the ponderous habits that blighted the final days of the Steven Gerrard era.
But the Colombian made sure to sharpen up his instincts as he put Gers ahead two minutes before the break.
Borna Barisic’s outswinging corner was flicked on by Connor Goldson to the back post, where Saints had completely failed in their duty to mark Morelos and they paid a heavy price as the striker headed home his fifth goal in the last six games.
And he turned provider four minutes after the break as the champions moved up another gear with a lovely second.
Moving the ball from defence into midfield, it was Aribo who put the foot down as he sent Morelos into the box and a nice pick out across the sixyard box left Kent with a simple finish.
Scott Arfield has looked rejuvenated under the new regime but his over eagerness saw him collect the game’s first booking after sliding in with his studs on Liam Craig.
A switch-off from James Tavernier allowed St Johnstone their first look at McGregor’s goal an hour into proceedings but on-loan Manchester United youngster Devine could only drag his effort wide of the target.
The away side should have helped themselves to another chance with 18 minutes left when Craig robbed Kamara before bursting into the box.
But instead of having a pop at McGregor’s goal, the Perth veteran bizarrely threw himself down as Kamara raced back to retrieve his mistake.
Referee Euan Anderson wasn’t fooled by the hopeless theatrics and booked the 34-year-old midfielder for diving, much to the amusement of the Ibrox crowd.