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.
After a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at home on Saturday, Celtic, who had been leading the standings in goals scored,
allowed the Light Blues to move up to the top for the first time since February 2022.
Mohamed Diomande, an Ivorian midfielder, scored his first goal for the Gers since joining during the winter transfer
window in the 37th minute, illuminating an otherwise uneventful first half.
Tavernier then made it to 19 goals for the season with penalties after 79 and 87 minutes, respectively, both coming
after VAR intervention.
Philippe Clement’s team is two points ahead of their Old Firm opponents with twelve games to go. They will ride the
high from their nine consecutive victories into their match at Ibrox against third-place Hearts the following week.
As Rangers supporters arrived for the midday kickoff, they were filled with excitement and noticed that Clement had
made several changes, mostly to the attacking lineup with the return of Borna Barisic, Oscar Cortes, Scott Wright,
Diomande, and Fabio Silva.
Connor Smith and Ryan McGowan were back, and Dan Phillips had returned from injury for Craig Levein’s 10th-
place team.
Football passing was always going to be tough on a subpar field, and the game got off to a rough start with a lot of
ball time in the air.
Rangers defeated Ross County 3-1 midweek, despite having 43 shots on goal (23 on target). However, until
Diomande broke the stalemate, they were unable to test Saints keeper Dimitar Mitov.
McGowan appeared to have nicked the ball away from Silva after another Rangers attack that appeared to have failed
at the outskirts of the area.
But it was Diomande’s turn. Playing in his maiden league start and currently on loan from Danish team
Nordsjaelland—a player the Light Blues must acquire in the summer—who took a touch and fired it past the diving
Mitov.
The game opened up when Saints striker Benjamin Kimpioka replaced David Keltjens, who had been cautioned in
the first half, and Gers winger Wright was replaced by Dujon Sterling, who had returned from suspension.
Shortly after the restart, Mitov made a great stop to deny Silva’s close-range shot from a Diomande cross, and then
Todd Cantwell, who was soon replaced by Tom Lawrence, crossed the ball but Sterling just couldn’t get enough on it.
St Johnstone was kept in the match by Rangers’ tight lead, but Sterling had another opportunity in the 65th minute
after Silva passed him in, but he waited too long to shoot 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.
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.
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