RANGERS REVEL IN REHEARSAL
Gio’s new boys steal the show as Ibrox men warm up for Euro clash in style
ST JOHNSTONE showed up wearing red and white stripes — but there the comparisons with Rangers’ next opponents must end.
The Ibrox side didn’t need a European-level performance to take the Premiership points but as a warm-up for PSV Eindhoven it let Giovanni van Bronckhorst apply one or two tweaks ahead of a massive Champions League qualifier.
Tuesday’s visit of PSV will require greater energy and impetus and it will also press Van Bronckhorst into an intriguing tactical battle with his old international teammate Rudi Van Nistelrooy.
If the night will exact a greater toll on body and the brain this was nevertheless another step forward for the Dutch manager’s summer signings.
Malik Tillman, Antonio Colak and Tom Lawrence each helped themselves to a goal, while there was also a debut for defender Ben Davies.
Best of all was Rabbi Matondo, who, after a quiet first half, burst to life with some incisive play off the left wing that featured two assists and a shot that came crashing back off the crossbar.
After his shaky showing against Union Saint-Gilloise in midweek, it was no great surprise to see James Sands removed from the starting line-up.
The American wasn’t on the bench either, with Van Bronckhorst later confirming he had been suffering from illness.
And so there was finally a place in defence for Davies, a close-season signing from Liverpool.
Partnered with the dependable Connor Goldson, the centre-back strolled through 77 minutes of football without ever having to answer any questions on his defensive qualities.
There were reasons for St Johnstone’s lack of ambition. After a harrowing season in which it took a two-legged play-off to avoid relegation, Callum Davidson is still steadying the ship.
A narrow opening-day defeat to Hibs offered scant encouragement but better followed last weekend with a win at Motherwell.
This represented a significant hike in standard and Davidson set up accordingly, tucking in Drey Wright as an auxiliary defender as Rangers hogged the ball.
Yet, even allowing for the enforced substitution in just seven minutes that saw Daniel Phillips introduced for the injured Cammy MacPherson, the plan was working pretty well to the point of the first-half water break.
Rangers might have been dominating territorially, but that left scope for the Perth side to find striker Theo Bair on the counter.
Unfortunately, his end product was deficient. On one promising occasion Bair sprang the offside trap yet wasted the cutback for Melker Hallberg.
And then as he fell off balance after straining to reach Jamie Murphy’s cross, he found himself presented with a six-yard box chance to score.
Borna Barisic made a hash of trying to clear the ball and it bounced in front of the grounded striker who jabbed his shot wide.
After those restorative drinks, Rangers upped the tempo and John Lundstram roused the crowd with a left-foot shot that Remi Matthews stretched to push away.
And then came the breakthrough. Tillman displayed an impressive leap to head Rangers through against Union on Tuesday and so James Tavernier knew what to do as he collected near the angle of the box.
The Ibrox captain hung up the cross and Tillman rose to connect, sending the ball in off the underside of the bar.
Rangers were slicker after the break. Matondo had shown only flickering menace first half but he almost caught fire as he killed Lundstram’s pass and swivelled to crash a fine shot off the bar.
Barisic grazed the roof of the net with a free-kick as Rangers upped the ante before Matondo’s pace and persistence earned the second.
Wright thought he had time as he moved across his own box but was caught and dispossessed by the Welsh internationalist’s thumping but fair tackle that presented Colak with a straightforward finish.
His goal in the bag, the Croat could depart the fray content and his replacement received by far the biggest ovation of the three subs sent on by Van Bronckhorst.
Alfredo Morelos is beloved by the Ibrox support but, five games into the new season, Van Bronckhorst must be frustrated that his best striker is not yet in a condition to start matches.
A thigh injury ended last season prematurely for the Colombian but while the muscular problem has healed, he looks significantly above his optimum fighting weight. Laboured and sluggish in his movement, it would be a major surprise to see the Colombian in Tuesday’s starting XI, just at the point where Rangers really could be doing with some of the forward play that troubled the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade last season.
Two more substitutes completed the scoring but there was another key contribution from the now electric Matondo.
Ryan Jack set the winger free with a line-breaking pass and Matondo skipped to the byline before eyeing the perfect option in Scott Arfield, who lapped up the chance to grab his goal.
Picked out by Arfield, Tom Lawrence rounded off things with a first-time volley.
Afterwards, Davidson did his best to talk up what was a disheartening outcome for this club.
He said: ‘For 75-80 minutes, I was quite happy.
‘First half I was quite pleased with our effort and shape. But then we conceded a sloppy goal.
‘And you have got to take your chances when they come here but we didn’t do that with Theo’s opportunity.
‘We conceded a poor second goal and that allowed it to be comfortable for Rangers.
‘Drey had defended really well up to that point. It was a block tackle that landed straight to their player and he finished it really well.
‘Sometimes your goal gets peppered here. That didn’t happen today but we still lost. It’s a rebuild, a new team but there are a lot of good things there.’ RANGERS (4-3-3): McLaughlin; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies (King 78), Barisic; Jack, Lundstram (Kamara 78), Tillman (Lawrence 66); Wright (Arfield 66), Colak (Morelos 66), Matondo. Subs (not used): McGregor, Yilmaz, Davis, Sakala.
Booked: Goldson. ST JOHNSTONE (4-5-1): Matthews; McGowan, Mitchell, Considine, Montgomery (Brown 60); Wright (Crawford 78), MacPherson (Phillips 7), Hallberg, Carey, Murphy (O’Halloran 78); Bair (May 60). Subs
(not used): Parish, Gordon, Ballantine, Kucheriavyi. Booked: (not used): Montgomery, Phillips.
Referee: Nick Walsh. Attendance: 48,655.