ON THE BRINK
We’ll be watching for Celtic slip-up, admits Gerrard as Rangers prepare to celebrate
STEVEN GERRARD last night admitted his entire squad will be glued to the television to see if Celtic drop the points that will see them officially crowned champions.
A 3-0 win over St Mirren has left Rangers needing just a point to make their Premiership title official and they could be crowned as soon as this afternoon if Celtic fail to win their televised clash at Dundee United.
Already holding a vastly superior goal difference, the reality is that Rangers could lose all six matches between now and the end of the campaign and still win the league, a fact
IT’S now close enough to touch. And assuming Celtic don’t slip up at Tannadice tomorrow, a point will be all that’s required for Rangers to officially dethrone the outgoing Premiership champions on their own turf in a fortnight’s time.
And from the way Steven Gerrard’s players celebrated at the end, there was a very public acknowledgment that ten years of pain has been brought to an end.
Fittingly, there was no stand-out hero of this typically ruthless victory. From the outset, this title-winning season has been all about the collective.
So, while Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Ianis Hagi did their attacking jobs by providing the goals to defeat St Mirren, the win owed just as much to the trademark diligence of defender Connor Goldson and the veteran playmaker Steven Davis, two men who must surely feature at the very top of Scotland’s Player-ofthe-Year reckoning.
When Rangers started their journey through the leagues in front of a small crowd of 4,485 at Peterhead in August 2012 it would have seemed inconceivable that their road back to the top would conclude in front of deserted stadiums.
Denied a packed and jubilant Ibrox by the pandemic, there was crowd noise as a backdrop — but it came from the mob who decided to flout lockdown restrictions by gathering outside.
A few days short of a big Europa League game against Czech champions Slavia Prague, Gerrard threw his strongest possible XI at this one.
Yet St Mirren surely did not come here simply to form a guard of honour and wave the championselect on to victory.
Manager Jim Goodwin stands on the verge of achieving his stated aim for the season, a place in the Premiership’s top six, but the gap from mid-table to the summit was cruelly exposed.
Without the resources of their hosts, the Paisley club needed to box clever but just as important as maintaining shape and concentration was the presence of a plan to make the most of any opportunities to get up the pitch.
It’s doubtful Gerrard would have anticipated Goodwin’s decision to settle on Collin Quaner as the best option.
Picked up on a free transfer in January, the former Ipswich striker had managed just two substitute appearances for Saints, but last weekend’s cameo did provide a game-changing moment when he won the disputed late penalty that beat Ross County.
A diving controversy was also at the root of the touchline ban that saw Gerrard watch the game from the stand.
The rescinding of Morelos’s card for ‘simulation’ at Livingston in midweek could account for Gerrard’s half-time displeasure with referee John Beaton, if not the foul-mouthed manner in which he chose to vent his fury.
St Mirren’s efforts to choke the game threatened to make this an uncomfortable watch for the Rangers manager but he was soon relaxing in his padded directors’ box seat as his team opened the game up with two goals in quick succession.
Goldson’s interception of Ilkay Durmus’s pass fed Kent for the first in 14 minutes but the former Liverpool man still had lots to do as he sized up the shooting opportunity on his right foot.
A quick check back onto his left gave him the angle he needed and the power generated meant Jak Alnwick never stood a chance.
To Goodwin’s visible frustration, Rangers’ second was even easier.
Glen Kamara fed Morelos and the Colombian squeezed his finish back across goal and in off the post for his eighth in the past 11 games.
Dylan Connolly was expending plenty of energy for Saints on the right flank and was responsible for his team’s best attack as he ran at Filip Helander before skewing a shot wide when a cross for Durmus might have been the better option.
Just 27 seconds of the second half had elapsed when Rangers nailed the points. The attack swept down the left through Joe Aribo to the jet-heeled Kent, who eased up on the after-burners in time to pick out Hagi at the back post.
With no St Mirren player near him, the Romanian had time to control and slam his finish past Alnwick.
Keeping goal against his former club, Alnwick turned over a bobbling Kent drive with his left boot, before his opposite number Allan McGregor pulled off something special with a one-handed stop that denied Saints sub Jon Obika, now on for a toiling Quaner.
If Hagi’s goal played out like a finishing drill, the second half drifted to a conclusion like an extended training session with subs Jermain Defoe and Scott Arfield drawing saves from Alnwick.
Come the end, those supporters gathered behind the Copland Road Stand were treated to a bizarre ‘audience’ with their heroes who assembled behind the iron gates at the Main Stand corner of the stadium to celebrate.
RANGERS (4-3-2-1): McGregor; Patterson, Goldson, Helander (Balogun 58), Barisic; Aribo, Davis (Arfield 58), Kamara; Hagi (Wright 74), Kent (Stewart 81); Morelos (Defoe 74).
Subs (not used): McLaughlin, Bassey, Simpson, Itten. Booked: Hagi.
ST MIRREN (4-5-1): Alnwick; Fraser, Shaughnessy, McCarthy, Tait; Connolly (MacPherson 71), DoyleHayes, Erhahon (Reid 88), McGrath (Flynn 71), Durmus (McAllister 55); Quaner (Obika 55). Subs (not used): Lyness, Henderson, Jamieson, Erwin.
Booked: Shaughnessy, McGrath.
Referee: Steven McLean.