Rangers kept their lead over Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership, but only after defeating Kilmarnock 2-1 at Rugby Park in a hard-fought turnaround.
Killie wide-man In the 11th minute of a competitive first half, Danny Armstrong scored from the penalty spot, and Derek McInnes’ team deserved to lead at the break.
The Gers were forced to dig deep, and when the visitors regained their composure, midfielder Tom Lawrence scored with a beautiful finish four minutes after captain James Tavernier tied the score with a brilliant free kick in the 55th minute.
With five games left before the split and ten league games left, Philippe Clement’s team leads Celtic by two points. Celtic crushed Dundee 7-1 at Parkhead to stay right behind the Govan men.
After defeating Hearts 5-0 the previous weekend, the visitors had won 10 straight games, including a 3-1 victory against Killie on January 2—the Ayrshire team’s sole loss in their previous 14 games.
Having taken note of the unpredictable nature of the synthetic turf, Clement adjusted his team once more to accommodate it. Borna Barisic, Ross McCausland, and Fabricio Silva returned, leaving the home team unaltered.
After five minutes, Silva had the first chance on goal when his close-range shot deflected for a corner, from which Killie keeper Will Dennis turned away Connor Goldson’s header for a corner, which was taken by the Rangers defender.
Killie replied well enough to see Liam Donnelly go close with a header at the other end, but seconds later, John Lundstram used his arm to block an Armstrong cross, and referee David Dickinson signalled to the spot.
Armstrong’s penalty easily defeated Jack Butland, and yet another shock appeared certain.
As the route-one first-half developed and Kilmarnock persisted in pursuing and harassing, Clement’s troops seemed uneasy.
The home team and fans were incensed when Dickinson continued playing and was exempt from VAR’s requirement to examine his pitchside monitor in the 40th minute, despite Mohamed Diomande’s apparent attempt to stop Liam Polworth from easily latching onto his short ball.
At the beginning of the second half, Silva and Barisic were replaced by Cyriel Dessers and Ridvan Yilmaz; McCausland would be replaced by Dujon Sterling. However, Butland was soon forced to make a fantastic one-handed save to stop Matty Kennedy from stroking in a second from six yards out.
After defender Lewis Mayo fouled Lawrence 25 yards from goal, Tavernier stepped up to send a curling shot past the diving Dennis, making Kilmarnock pay for that miss.
As Rangers attempted to score their second goal, the rain kept swirling around the pitch. Lawrence’s first goal of the season came when he pounced on a loose ball at the edge of the box, guiding his shot low past Dennis and into the far corner. The goal set off wild celebrations among the visiting fans in the stand behind the goal, some of whom spilled out.
Dessers scored from a Tavernier corner as the tide of the match began to turn in favour of the revitalised Ibrox team.
Rangers secured a vital three points when six additional minutes were added, but Celtic’s thrilling victory over Dundee indicated there is still plenty of competition for the title.
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