St Mirren 0-3 Rangers: Visitors leapfrog 10-man hosts into second in Scottish Premiership
St Mirren #StMirren
Abdallah Sima scored Rangers’ second goal
James Tavernier scored twice as managerless Rangers took advantage of Ryan Strain’s early red card to beat St Mirren and leapfrog their hosts into second place in the Scottish Premiership.
The visiting captain tucked away a spot-kick after Strain was sent off for a deliberate handball on the half-hour mark.
But, despite a couple of fine saves from Zach Hemming, Rangers rarely looked like extending their lead until Abdallah Sima slotted the second with 20 minutes remaining and Tavernier launched a stunning, stoppage-time strike.
That was enough to end St Mirren’s six-game unbeaten home run since the start of the season and take the Ibrox side above them and into second place on goal difference.
More importantly, it means Rangers do not end the weekend further detached from Premiership leaders Celtic.
Both managers had opted for speed up front, with 17-year-old Zak Lovelace given a first Rangers start and Toyosi Olusanya coming in for the hosts.
Combined with two sets of full-backs showing typical attacking intent, defences were under immediate pressure as play ebbed from end to end.
However, the early promise had descended into a dour midfield slog until Lovelace showed why he had been preferred to several big-money summer signings with a dangerous cross into the six-yard box.
Sima failed to bury it at the far post, but replays showed that it had been diverted on its way to the on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion forward by the hand of the backtracking Strain.
Tavernier slotted his fifth goal of the season, but even that – and the extra man – failed to hand Rangers significant dominance of possession.
Hemming was required to thwart a Connor Goldson header and close-range Nicolas Raskin volley before half-time.
However, the visitors could only rest easy when Raskin rolled into the path of Sima on the break to fire his seventh goal of the season and Tavernier added some late gloss.
Player of the match – James Tavernier (Rangers)
On a day when nobody stood out for Rangers in general play, Tavernier again made the difference with his finishing and leadershipQuestion marks remain for Rangers – analysis
Davis had reacted to the Europa League defeat away to Aris Limassol in his debut as caretaker by making four changes to his starting line-up.
While he suggested it was down to a desire to freshen up the team, the start given to Lovelace ahead of Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers hinted at his displeasure at another disjointed performance by Rangers’ summer arrivals.
That was given greater credence by Davis’ decision to give 20-year-old Ross McCausland only a second appearance when forced to replace Lovelace after the teenager pulled up with a hamstring injury shortly after winning the spot kick.
Even with St Mirren down to 10 men, the hosts looked every bit as capable of scoring the next goal as Rangers until tiring late on.
That will give manager Robinson some consolation and his Rangers counterpart – and whoever is appointed as a permanent successor to Michael Beale – additional cause for concern in equal measure.
The Paisley side’s wait for a win over Rangers now extends to 10 games – and Robinson has yet to taste success against the Glasgow side in 17 fixtures in charge of Motherwell and now St Mirren.
However, considering they were a man down for so long, St Mirren again showed they have the organisation and quality to challenge for a top-six place.
What they said
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: “There’s no denying it is a penalty and a sending off. The game turns on its head after that.
“I thought we started really brightly, we were the better side, passed the ball really well. We tried to stay in the game for 65 minutes, that was our plan at half time and we made some really positive changes to do that. Maybe I should have waited another 10-15 minutes, but that’s not our style.”
Rangers interim manager Steven Davis: “The pressure was on coming into the game. To come to a really difficult place with they way they’ve started the season, to score three goals and keep a clean sheet, I’m delighted.
“It’s a small step in the right direction. It’s just about building blocks right now and trying to build from this performance. The feeling in the dressing room has been low, so hopefully this will give them some belief. We move forward after this.”
What’s next?
Rangers host Hibernian on Saturday 21 October as St Mirren visit Ross County (both 15:00).
Line-upsSt Mirren
Formation 3-4-3
1Hemming
22Fraser13Gogic5Taylor
23Strain17Baccus6O’Hara3Tanser
10McMenamin20Olusanya11Kiltie
Substitutes
Rangers
Formation 4-3-3
1Butland
2Tavernier6Goldson5Souttar31Barisic
15Cifuentes4Lundstram43Raskin
65Lovelace25Roofe19Sima
Substitutes
Referee:Nick Walsh
Attendance:6,984
Live Text
Match ends, St. Mirren 0, Rangers 3.
Second Half ends, St. Mirren 0, Rangers 3.
Goal! St. Mirren 0, Rangers 3. James Tavernier (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner following a corner.
Attempt blocked. James Tavernier (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Bailey Rice.
Substitution, Rangers. Bailey Rice replaces José Cifuentes.
Substitution, Rangers. Sam Lammers replaces Abdallah Sima.
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Richard Taylor.
Nicolas Raskin (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Richard Taylor (St. Mirren).
Attempt saved. Cyriel Dessers (Rangers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ross McCausland.
Attempt blocked. Nicolas Raskin (Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by James Tavernier.
Attempt missed. Alex Greive (St. Mirren) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Stav Nahmani.
Substitution, St. Mirren. Stav Nahmani replaces Conor McMenamin.
James Tavernier (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Alex Gogic (St. Mirren).
Goal! St. Mirren 0, Rangers 2. Abdallah Sima (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Nicolas Raskin.
Substitution, St. Mirren. Alex Greive replaces Greg Kiltie.
Substitution, St. Mirren. Caolan Boyd-Munce replaces Keanu Baccus.
Substitution, St. Mirren. Mikael Mandron replaces Toyosi Olusanya.
Attempt saved. Abdallah Sima (Rangers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner.
Player of the match
HemmingZach Hemming
St Mirren
Squad number1Player nameHemming
Squad number22Player nameFraser
Squad number17Player nameBaccus
Squad number10Player nameMcMenamin
Squad number3Player nameTanser
Squad number13Player nameGogic
Squad number6Player nameO’Hara
Squad number5Player nameTaylor
Squad number11Player nameKiltie
Squad number20Player nameOlusanya
Squad number15Player nameBoyd-Munce
Squad number21Player nameGreive
Squad number9Player nameMandron
Squad number23Player nameStrain
Squad number19Player nameNahmani
Rangers
Squad number1Player nameButland
Squad number19Player nameSima
Squad number2Player nameTavernier
Squad number65Player nameLovelace
Squad number45Player nameMcCausland
Squad number5Player nameSouttar
Squad number43Player nameRaskin
Squad number31Player nameBarisic
Squad number6Player nameGoldson
Squad number15Player nameCifuentes
Squad number4Player nameLundstram
Squad number64Player nameRice
Squad number25Player nameRoofe
Squad number9Player nameDessers
Squad number14Player nameLammers