Rangers back on top but

Rangers returned to the top of the Premiership table but that was where any sense of satisfaction started and ended for Steven Gerrard on what was a deeply frustrating afternoon for his team in West Lothian.

Their hopes of taking full advantage of Celtic’s two postponed fixtures in the aftermath of Boli Bolingoli’s breach of Covid-19 protocol were ended as they dropped their first two points of the season against a gritty and robust Livingston outfit.

Rangers leapfrogged Hibs to lead the way on goal difference but there can be no avoiding the sense, even this early in the campaign, that this was an opportunity missed to crank up some pressure on their Old Firm rivals in the title race.

The Ibrox side monopolised the ball throughoutbutlackedacuttingedge, their play perhaps too deliberate at times to create the number of clearcut scoring chances Gerrard would have wanted to see.

Rangers quickly established almost total dominance of possession but found their hosts predictably difficult to break down.

It took Gerrard’s men until the 13th minute to engineer their first attempt at goal when a James Tavernier corner broke for Ryan Kent whose shot was blocked by Jon Guthrie. The ball appeared to ricochet against the defender’s hand but Rangers’ appeals for a penalty were dismissed by referee Nick Walsh.

Ianis Hagi then tried his luck from distance but his low shot slid wide of the right-hand post of Max Stryjek, the Polish goalkeeper making his debut for Livingston as Robby Mccrorie had to sit out the game against his parent club.

The absence of Qpr-bound Lyndon Dykes from the Livi line-up saw Jack Hamilton handed the task of leading the line and the 20-year-old provided afewuncomfortablemomentsinaerial challenges with Rangers defender Filip Helander.

But Livingston were scarcely seen as an attacking force as Rangers moved the ball around patiently. Scott Arfield, back in the starting lineup as a replacement for the injured

Joe Aribo, was next to threaten for Rangers as he raced onto a through ball from Ryan Jack but Stryjek was quickly off his line to snuff out the danger.

Alfredo Morelos was seeing little in the way of meaningful ammunition but he might have done better in the 20th minute when he failed to make a clean connection with a close-range header after being picked out by a fine Tavernier cross.

The Colombian striker created his next opportunity by himself, outmuscling Jack Fitzwater to surge into the penalty area before smashing a shot just wide of Stryjek’s left-hand post.

Rangers’ full-backs Tavernier and Borna Barisic had all the licence they wanted to get forward and support their attack against the deeplying and well organised Livingston defence. But the visitors were unable to take advantage of some excellent deliveries from both men, such as when Arfield sent a header widely off target after being found by Tavernier.

There was a rare moment of concern for the Rangers defence when Livingston captain Marvin Bartley burst free on the right but his low cross was cut out by the vigilant Arfield.

In stoppage time of what was a frustrating first half for Rangers, they came close from a set piece when Helander flashed a header over from a Tavernier corner.

Livingston were clearly more than content to try and maintain the stalemate, the limits of their ambition exemplified when Stryjek was

Rangers leapfrogged Hibs to lead the way on goal difference but there can be no avoiding the sense, even this early in the campaign, that this was an opportunity missed to crank up some pressure on their Old Firm rivals in the title race. The Ibrox side lacked a cutting edge, their play perhaps too deliberate at times to create the number of clear-cut chances Gerrard would have wanted to see

warned for time-wasting just six minutes into the second half.

In contrast, Rangers tried to up the tempo and get the ball into their attacking third of the pitch far quicker. A powerful shot from Kent was punched away less than convincing