Skipper James Tavernier scored a late penalty double as Rangers romped to the top of the cinch Premiership with a 3-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Celtic had been leading the table on goals scored but their 1-1 draw at home to Kilmarnock on Saturday left the door open for the Light Blues to take command at the top for the first time since February, 2022.
Ivorian midfielder Mohamed Diomande lit up a dull first half in the 37th minute when he fired in from 25 yards for his first Gers goal since arriving in the winter transfer window.
Tavernier then dispatched penalties after 79 minutes and 87 minutes, both following VAR intervention, taking his tally for the season to 19.
With 12 fixtures remaining, Philippe Clement’s side are two points clear of their Old Firm rivals and will take the momentum of nine straight wins into next week’s game against third-placed Hearts at Ibrox.
Rangers fans travelled in great expectation for the lunchtime kick-off and again they noted that Clement had rung the changes, mostly in attack, with Borna Barisic, Oscar Cortes, Scott Wright, Diomande and Fabio Silva returning.
Craig Levein’s 10th-placed side had Dan Phillips back from injury, with Connor Smith and Ryan McGowan back.
A poor surface was always going to make passing football difficult and the ball spent a lot of time in the air in a scrappy start to the match.
Rangers had 43 attempts on goal in the 3-1 win over Ross County in midweek – 23 on target – but had yet to trouble Saints keeper Dimitar Mitov until Diomande stepped up to break the deadlock.
Another Rangers move looked to have broken down at the edge of the box with McGowan nicking the ball away from Silva.
However, it fell to Diomande and the midfielder, on loan from Danish side Nordsjaelland with the Light Blues having an obligation to buy in the summer and making his first league start, took a touch and drilled it past the diving Mitov.
Dujon Sterling, back from suspension, replaced Gers winger Wright for the start of the second half with Saints striker Benjamin Kimpioka on for David Keltjens, who had been booked in the first half, and the game opened up.
Within seconds of the restart Mitov made a fine save from Silva’s close-range drive from a Diomande cross before Sterling just failed to get enough on a cross from the hard-working Todd Cantwell, who was soon replaced by Tom Lawrence.
Rangers’ narrow lead ensured St Johnstone remained in the game but in the 65th minute Sterling had another chance when he was played in by Silva but took too long to get his shot away and was eventually crowded out.
Three minutes later striker Cyriel Dessers and winger Ross McCausland replaced Silva and Cortes as Clement looked to grab the second goal to give his side some breathing space.
When St Johnstone’s veteran defender Andy Considine fouled Sterling, although he did not point to the spot at first, referee Matt MacDermid was asked to view the pitchside monitor and he awarded the penalty and Tavernier gave Mitov no chance.
Dessers had a one-on-one with Mitov and rounded the keeper but skipper Liam Gordon shepherded the ball to safety.
The Gers substitute then headed a Tavernier cross against the bar and Lawrence’s shot struck the hand of Luke Robinson and after consulting his pitchside monitor again, referee MacDermid again pointed to the spot and this time Tavernier sent it high into the other corner for his 120th Rangers goal.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
