Captain fantastic Tavernier stars as Rangers threaten to disappear over the horizon
ROSS COUNTY......0 RANGERS......4
THE Rangers juggernaut continues hurtling down the road towards what all at Ibrox hope is a first Premiership title since 2011. But if this thumping victory at Ross County was a straightforward affair — in footballing terms at least — the tale that has unfolded since the Govan club’s last visit to Dingwall has been quite remarkable.
Back in March, the Ibrox side had to rely on Ryan Kent’s solitary strike at the Global Energy Stadium to secure their first away league win since Celtic Park on December 29.
Steven Gerrard’s men still trailed their Old Firm rivals by 13 points then. And, after back-to-back 1-0 defeats earlier that same week at Hearts in the Scottish Cup and at home to Hamilton in the league, it looked like the Liverpool legend’s reign may well be coming to an end.
That 1-0 win over Ross County proved the final action of the domestic season before it was curtailed due to the global pandemic, with Celtic awarded a history-equalling ninth consecutive title.
Fast-forward eight months and goals yesterday from Kemar Roofe, James Tavernier and Jermain Defoe — on top of Callum Morris putting through his own net — left an i mperious- l ooking Rangers 13 points clear at the top of the table.
I played with some great attacking full-backs at Anfield and James is right up there
Gerrard’s watertight side have kept 14 clean sheets in 16 league games, as well as qualifying from the Europa League group stage with a match to spare.
Tavernier, who has now scored 16 goals from right-back, with two assists yesterday making it 12 for the season, continues to be the beating heart of this impressive side.
Hailing the 29-year-old as up there with the best full-backs he played alongside in his distinguished career, Gerrard i nsisted his skipper’s inspiration goes far beyond what he contributes on the football field.
‘James Tavernier was sensational and he deserves all the plaudits,’ smiled the manager.
‘I have played with some fantastic attacking right-backs — Kyle Walker, Glen Johnson, Steve Finnan, to name a few. Tav is right up there.
‘The way we play suits James and his numbers are top-level stuff. But the pleasing thing for me is he is still contributing to the other side of the game.
‘He’s pressing, he’s aggressive, he’s winning his duels and he’s stopping crosses.
‘Our clean-sheet record is just as important as James’ other numbers.
‘Where James is right now, he needs to bottle it and stay there for as long as he can because he’s in fantastic form.
‘People will talk about the goals and the assists but I judge James differently. I also judge him on what he does as soon as he walks through the door.
‘Is he helping me set standards? Is he professional in everything he does? Is he leading by example? Is he helping the young lads? Is he making sure everyone is at it and the culture at the club remains strong?
‘ This s eason, he has been absolutely fantastic. I can’t be any more proud of him.
‘He just needs to continue doing what he’s doing because he’s a massive help to me.’
Gerrard made two changes from the side who beat Standard Liege 3-2 at Ibrox last Thursday night.
Matchwinner Scott Arfield (right with goalscorer Defoe) dropped to the bench alongside Borna Barisic. In came Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo.
The visitors dominated possession early on but a fine Allan McGregor save from Harry Paton prevented them falling behind. They reacted perfectly to the scare by going a goal ahead.
Fine build-up play from Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos ended wi t h Steven Davis bisecting the County defence with a beautiful through ball.
The quality of the pass was matched by Tavernier as he sent a ball across the sixyard line. Roofe got in between Morris and Coll Donaldson to steer the ball home .
On the stroke of half-time, Iain Vigurs picked up a booking for clattering Morelos, while Michael Gardyne also entered the book for foul and abusive language. The Rangers players would later report there had been ‘serious’ verbal abuse a i me d towards Connor Goldson. I t continued t o be pl ai n sailing for the visitors, however, as t hey went 2- 0 ahead after the break. Morel o s ’ shot was blocked and the ball fell f or Kent, who put in a first-time ball across goal. Roofe’s initial effort struck Josh Reid but the ball rebounded off Tavernier and into the net.
County nearly pulled one back when Ross Stewart got a touch on a deep cross f rom Reid, but substitute Connor Randall blazed over the bar at the back post.
It was no surprise when the outstanding Tavernier was in the thick of it when Rangers stretched their advantage to three.
Picking up a fine Goldson through ball, the Ibrox skipper squared for Morelos, only for the l uckless Morris to get there first and turn the ball into his own net.
Veteran Defoe then rounded off the scoring on his 800th senior appearance, turning and converting from close range after good work by fellow substitute Cedric Itten.
‘It wouldn’t surprise me if Jermain went on to make 900 appearances,’ said Gerrard.
‘He’s in incredible shape and loves coming into work.
‘Jermain is still trying to learn and improve.
‘He is ready at any given moment. You can see he is hungry to get on the pitch. You can tell by his performance he is still hungry to score goals.
‘It’s a big help knowing you’ve got JD to come on and help kill teams off.
‘He will start enough games this season and he will get enough cameos coming on.
‘He is a big, important player for us moving forward.
‘Overall it was a really strong, positive performance. I thought we were excellent in both sides of the game.
‘I think you could see our hunger out of possession, our intensity, the way we pressed the ball and rushed Ross County off the pitch.
‘When our moments came to hurt the opposition, we were really ruthless.
‘I was really impressed with our first goal and then obviously Ross County had to change their game plan from there.
‘Then it’s just about being patient as they had to come out and gamble a bit.’
Yesterday’s match was played in front of 300 fans, with Dingwall situated in a ‘Tier One’ area of coronavirus restrictions.
Gerrard hopes that the novel experience soon becomes the norm again.
‘It was the second time we have played in front of fans this season. We had them away to Standard Liege as well,’ said the Ibrox boss, who hopes to have Ryan Jack back from injury and Filip Helander available after testing positive for Covid for Thursday’s final Europa League group match against Lech Poznan in Poland.
‘We welcome fans back in the stadiums — home or away.
‘ We want to play i n front of magnificent atmospheres.
‘Scottish football gets big backing up and down the country.
‘I’ve really enjoyed that over my first couple of years here.
‘Hopefully, we can build on these numbers and keep getting people in stadiums to watch their teams. And I hope it’s not too far away at Ibrox as well.’