Rangers moved to within two points of cinch Premiership leaders Celtic with a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man St Johnstone at Ibrox.
Philippe Clement, who had picked up his first trophy as Rangers boss on Sunday after the 1-0 Viaplay Cup final win over Aberdeen at Hampden Park, watched helplessly as luckless striker Kemar Roofe went off after just 16 minutes with another injury.
However, replacement Cyriel Dessers fired the Light Blues ahead in the 28th minute before Saints forward Diallang Jaiyesimi was almost immediately sent off for a hefty challenge on midfielder John Lundstram following a VAR intervention.
The dominant Light Blues doubled their lead in the 84th minute with a penalty from skipper James Tavernier, who had scored the winner at Hampden, and Rangers moved tantalisingly closer to the Hoops with a game in hand.
As expected Clement shuffled his pack again.
Kieran Dowell made just his third start of the season in midfield as John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz, Sam Lammers and Roofe made up the five changes from the starting line-up at Hampden while Saints boss Craig Levein brought back Andy Considine, Oludare Olufunwa and Sven Sprangler.
After barely a minute of a strangely low-key start to the match, Souttar required a lengthy spell of treatment for a facial injury after clashing with Max Kucheriavyi but there was more distressing injury news soon on its way for the home side.
Roofe, making his first start since October 8, had a couple of attempts on goal before he had to go off and the striker looked distraught, with Dessers taking over.
Rangers had the bulk of possession with the game played in the Perth side’s half but the Saints defence looked organised and disciplined until Olufunwa missed a cross from Tavernier which allowed Dessers to knock the ball past goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov and a VAR check confirmed there was no offside.
Almost straight from kick-off Jaiyesimi crunched Lundstram and VAR checked for serious foul play after referee Alan Muir gave the Englishman, on loan from Charlton, a yellow card.
The official checked the pitchside monitor and upgraded the yellow to a red, with Chris Kane soon coming on for Sprangler as Levein reshuffled.
Mitov saved a decent drive from Dessers in the 36th minute and Tavernier fired wide of the far post in added time but there was no sustained pressure on the Saints goal.
Lundstram stayed inside at the interval – where Santa got cheered from the Light Blues fans when he came out with the Viaplay Cup – with Dujon Sterling taking over and within minutes Rangers attacker Abdallah Sima volleyed a Tavernier corner just past the post before Mitov made a series of fine saves from Lammers, twice, and Dessers.
Sima missed the target with another effort in the 66th minute before being replaced by Scott Wright with Todd Cantwell on for Lammers.
There were further efforts from Cantwell and Tavernier before Mitov clearly brought down Dessers inside the box with the Rangers captain slamming the spot-kick low into the corner.
Trossard to bring 'best form ever' to Belgium's Nations League matches
Leandro Trossard will be trying to bring his Arsenal form into the international break after coming back into the Belgium squad this month.
The 29-year-old has scored two goals in seven Premier League appearances for the Gunners and is enjoying a positive start to the season.
He has the joint second-best conversion rate (20%) of any Arsenal player to have featured in every league game, with his goals having come from 10 shots.
He also ranks third in the squad for expected goals (xG) generated (1.46) and has averaged 0.15 xG per shot.
When asked about how he has performed so far for his club, Trossard was pleased with how things were going.
"I feel good, yes," he said. "Is this my best form ever? I dare not say, but I think I'm performing quite consistently at Arsenal."
Trossard has played a variety of positions for the club this season, following an injury to captain Martin Odegaard. While his preferred position is on the left, he has also worked well with Kai Havertz as a second attacker.
With Jeremy Doku likely to take the left-hand side for his national team, Trossard could be used centrally to cover for the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne.
"That hasn't been discussed with the coach yet, but that will become clear today or tomorrow," Trossard said.
"I don't know yet what position I will play, but it's always nice to be played in your best position. At the European Championship, for example, I had to fill many roles."
Trossard's inclusion in the Belgium squad came after manager Domenico Tedesco surprisingly left him out in September.
They face Italy and France in the Nations League Group A2 over the course of the international break, while the Arsenal man explained he was relaxed about not featuring last month.
"[Tedesco] said he knew my qualities, wanted to try out new guys and give them some experience,” he said.
“The Nations League offers the opportunity for that. I agreed to that. It was a good agreement."
Greenwood excited by Man City playing in 'pinnacle' of football
Manchester City captain Alex Greenwood is excited by the challenge that competing in the Champions League will bring to the club as they aim to win it for the first time.
They face Barcelona at home on Wednesday in their opening match in Group D, having failed make it past the qualifying rounds in the previous two years.
City ensured they would avoid the same fate this time around though, with an emphatic 8-0 aggregate victory over Paris FC.
The significance of being in the competition was not lost on Greenwood.
"It's the pinnacle to win the Champions League. To win this competition is another level," she said.
"It's exciting. I'm looking forward to that. We belong here, we've missed out and been frustrated by that."
Barcelona have won the tournament in three of the last four seasons, while they were beaten finalists in 2021-22, losing 3-1 to Lyon.
City last faced the Spanish giants in their last appearance in the competition, losing 4-2 on aggregate in the 2020-21 quarter-final before Barcelona went on to win their first Champions League.
Despite being knocked out, City did win 2-1 in the home leg in 2021. Of the team that played that day, only England team-mates Greenwood and Chloe Kelly remain at the club.
"I don't remember it clearly, but I do remember the game," said Greenwood.
"Our team has changed so much since then. The way we prepare is different, we look different now and are a lot more prepared."
One familiar face who could line up against Manchester City on Wednesday is Keira Walsh, who moved from them to Barcelona for a then world-record transfer fee of approximately £400,000 in September 2022.
"I could speak about Keira all day, she’s an incredible footballer," said Greenwood.
"What she does off the ball and on the ball, she's an incredible player. She's improved and added assists to her game, hopefully not tomorrow!"
Meanwhile, Gareth Taylor believes his club are about to face the biggest challenge they possibly could.
"I would say they are the best team in the world, especially over the period of the last four or five years," he said.
"Barcelona have really dominated this last three-year period. In terms of that taking the pressure off us, not at all. We've worked tremendously hard to be here.
"The cream always rises to the top. We want to see the best players on the best stage and this is what it is."
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
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