Rangers quickly swept away Old Firm frustrations with a 3-1 cinch Premiership win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox.
Philippe Clement lost his first game as Gers boss in the narrow 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Saturday but, just as it looked as if they were losing their way a bit after an energetic start, late first-half goals from wide-men Ross McCausland and Abdallah Sima gave them a commanding interval lead.
Killie, who went into the game unbeaten in six games, fought back and Danny Armstrong reduced the deficit in the 58th minute with a penalty awarded after VAR intervention.
It was the first penalty Rangers had conceded in 75 cinch Premiership matches since Lewis Ferguson netted for Aberdeen in a 1-1 draw in January 2022.
However, Todd Cantwell soon restored the two-goal cushion as Rangers ensured the Celtic defeat was a speed bump rather than a road block.
The result sees Gers keep the pressure on the leaders going into the winter break, where Clement is sure to further bolster his squad – which had Portuguese attacker Fabio Silva coming off the bench to make his debut.
The afternoon began with a poignant minute’s silence in tribute to the 66 fans who died in the Ibrox Disaster on January 2, 1971, before Rangers looked to make amends for their weekend woes by starting with pace and purpose.
In the seventh minute a shot from Gers attacker Cyriel Dessers on the turn struck the outside of the post.
Killie keeper Will Dennis then turned a deflected drive from Sima past the post for a corner which came to nothing before Dessers headed a cross from left-back Ridvan Yilmaz just over the bar.
However, in the 28th minute a pass from Killie substitute David Watson, on for the injured Liam Donnelly, split the square Gers defence to find captain Kyle Vassell running clear on goal but Ibrox goalkeeper Jack Butland raced out to block the shot with his foot.
That was enough to bring groans tumbling down from the stands but in the 41st minute, just as Killie sensed an opener was there for the taking, they conceded when Dessers’ terrific raking pass sent McCausland through on goal and the Northern Ireland international drove it low into the corner of the net.
The Light Blues did not take long to double their lead, Sima taking a cross into the box from Connor Goldson on his chest four minutes later, before turning and hammering the ball past Dennis from 12 yards for his 15th goal of the season before he goes on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal.
Killie came out fighting at the start of the second half and there was VAR check for a penalty when McKenzie’s cross struck the arm of defender John Souttar, in for suspended Leon Balogun, before going out.
Referee John Beaton went to his pitch-side monitor and then pointed to the spot with Armstrong giving Butland no chance.
It could have returned the nerves to Ibrox but three minutes later Cantwell converted a Yilmaz cross from close-range for his second goal in three games.
Dennis saved a decent drive from Gers skipper James Tavernier and Dessers took too long when presented with a chance and was crowded out, before he was replaced by Wolves loanee Silva.
In the 75th minute Cantwell should have scored again with only Dennis to beat but shot straight at the keeper before Rangers continued to keep a spirited Rugby Park side at bay until the final whistle.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
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