By David Herd
After a triumphant week in Europe and at Hampden, Rangers welcomed St Johnstone to Ibrox tonight in the Scottish Premiership, hoping to close the gap at the top to just two points with still a game fewer played than stuttering Celtic. With the team still unbeaten under manager Philippe Clement, every fan in the 46,931 crowd arrived at the stadium totally confident of another victory, despite the significant injury absences the squad are dealing with.
It’s not just Rangers who are seeing the benefits of appointing an experienced and capable figure in the hotseat. Saints started the season terribly under rookie manager Steven McLean, suffering League Cup embarrassment to lower league opposition and slumping to the bottom of the league table. Craig Levein certainly won’t win too many popularity contests for either his dour personality or his defensive football, but his pragmatic and organised approach had seen his team rise up to eighth place before kick-off. While confident of a win, few in the stands were expecting an end-to-end attacking game.
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With none of the injured players returning to the squad, the manager had to decide his line-up from those who were on the pitch or the bench at Hampden. When the team lines were submitted, we found out that he had opted for five changes to the eleven who delivered the first silverware of the season. Leon Balogun, Borna Barisic, Dujon Sterling, Todd Cantwell and Cyriel Dessers were all rested and on the bench if needed, with the fresher legs of John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz, Keiran Dowell, Sam Lammers and Kemar Roofe given starting places. Some may say this was clever rotation of the squad during a run of testing fixtures, some might disagree and think the team was being disrupted more than necessary. We would soon find out which train of thought was right.
It wasn’t just Philippe Clement ringing the changes. Craig Levein made three changes from his side’s weekend win over Hibs, which included a return for ex-Aberdeen defender Andrew Considine, a man who has taken part in many battles against Rangers over the years.
The match had barely started when it stopped again for nearly three minutes, John Souttar receiving a head knock in an aerial duel. When it got going again, the pattern quickly emerged with the visitors playing with a line of five defenders and getting nine men behind the ball whenever Rangers had possession. Kemar Roofe had the first effort on goal but his shot was blocked. Roofe then signalled to the bench after just 14 minutes that he had picked up an injury, and he trudged off to be replaced by Cyriel Dessers a moment later. A player of terrific talent and goalscoring ability, but you have to wonder whether he will be seen again in a Rangers shirt as he is simply too unreliable.
After 12 more frustrating minutes, the substitute broke the deadlock. An excellent Tavernier cross eluded the St Johnstone back line and found the lurking Dessers, who tucked it away. The celebrations were put on hold for the inevitable VAR check for offside, but after a full minute’s delay, the goal stood.
Within seconds of the restart, there was more VAR action. Saints player Diallang Jaiyesimi lunged into a horrible tackle on John Lundstram, but referee Alan Muir only showed yellow. Unsurprisingly, the referee was then told to halt play while the VAR room checked whether it was a red card offence, and they then sent the official to the monitor. Mr Muir finally got the decision right, and Saints were rightly down to ten men. Even Craig Levein seemed to have no complaints.
He quickly rearranged his side, taking off the wonderfully named Sven Sprangler to bring on the physical strength of Chris Kane as the lone striker. Rangers dominated the remainder of the half, with goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov saving well from both Dessers and Lammers, before he watched a James Tavernier shot fly past his post in the last of the seven minutes added time. With yellows for Smith and Phillips of St Johnstone, and also for Connor Goldson for a shirt pull on Kane, many wondered if the match would see more red. It did see a man in a red outfit during half-time, Santa getting a rousing reception as he paraded the League Cup on the pitch. Hopefully the great man has now recovered from his weekend trauma on the other side of the city.
The match didn’t see any more of John Lundstram, the midfield anchor unable to continue as he felt the effects of the red card challenge. Manager Clement would later angrily confirm that the player might not play again in 2023, a hammer blow to the team given how well he has been playing and how many other injuries Rangers have suffered recently. This meant another midfield appearance for cup final man-of-the-match Dujon Sterling, and he again impressed.
The match continued as a one-way procession towards the Saints’ goal. Goalkeeper Mitov produced a string of excellent stops, denying Dessers and Lammers, and the frustration in the stands started to grow as Rangers struggled to kill off the contest. Top scorer Abdallah Sima saw a shot flash just wide in 65 minutes, and this was his last action as the manager decided on two changes, withdrawing Sima and Lammers for Scott Wright and Todd Cantwell.
The second goal stubbornly refused to arrive, skipper Tavernier coming close with two efforts that both whistled just wide. When left back Ridvan Yilmaz blazed wildly over with ten minutes left, the howls from the stands were starting to grow louder. Things were getting nervy, no doubt made worse by the knowledge that the team were now right back in the title race. Then in the 82nd minute, a clever pass from Wright sent Dessers into the box where he was taken out by a desperate Mitov dive. It was a stonewall penalty, with VAR taking little time in confirming the obvious. The captain stepped up, and did what the captain does. He tucked it away with the minimum of fuss, and it was game over.
This was the 116th James Tavernier goal for Rangers, taking him above Mark Hateley and level with Kenny Miller in the all-time scoring charts. It won’t be long before he overtakes the great John Greig. 60 of those goals have been from the spot, a total greater than even “the penalty king” himself, the late Johnny Hubbard. But we shouldn’t let that mask the fact his 56 other goals are more than Brian Laudrup, Ian Ferguson and Ian Durrant before we add the penalties on top. His contribution to our team has been incredible, and that’s without the 113 assists he also has, the latest also being tonight.
Rangers then saw out the closing stages to record an unspectacular but satisfying 2-0 success. St Johnstone’s physical approach has meant another key player is going to miss matches, Levein’s men were more sinners than saints. They never threatened the Rangers goal, and got exactly what they deserved on the night, nothing. Philippe Clement will now need to get his magic wand back out as Rangers look to negotiate four more league fixtures over the holiday period with a squad stretched to the limit as two more players head for the treatment table. Despite these setbacks, Rangers remain unbeaten under the manager, have the best defensive record in the division by some distance, and are sitting in a great position in the race for the league championship. Santa is delivering a Blue Christmas this year.