Sky Sports Ross County 0-3 Rangers: Hamza Igamane, Danilo, James Tavernier score to close gap on Aberdeen in Scottish Premiership.

Report as Rangers breeze to win against Ross County in the Scottish Premiership; Hamza Igamane opens the score with a deflected attempt. Danilo adds second following Jack Hamilton’s error. James Tavernier slams in the late third. Rangers narrow the deficit on second-placed Aberdeen to two points. Rangers defeated Ross County 3-0 to cut the deficit on second-placed Aberdeen to two points and signal a pivotal week in Philippe Clement’s tenure. Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane opened the scoring after only six minutes, his fourth goal in four games, before Brazilian forward Danilo doubled the lead in the 37th minute when Staggies goalkeeper Jack Hamilton was far too sluggish to clear his lines.

The home side started the day – and finished it – in eighth place with one win in five games and boss Don Cowie made five changes, with keeper Hamilton, captain Connor Randall, Scott Allardice, Michee Efete and Alex Samuel all returning.

Clement made just one alteration to the side that started in the 6-0 thrashing of Kilmarnock in midweek, midfielder Connor Barron coming in for Mohamed Diomande.

Samuel threatened early for the home side when he flashed a shot from the edge of the box over the bar with Rangers winger Vaclav Cerny doing likewise at the other end soon afterwards.

Igamane demonstrated how it should be done by combining down the left with left-back Jefte before unleashing a shot from the edge of the box that dropped over Hamilton and into the far post. The game ended with the Staggies getting a foothold. Hagi and Danilo went close with drives before County midfielder Noah Chilvers’ deflected attempt was brilliantly stopped by keeper Jack Butland, and Rangers eventually cleared the threat from the corner. Hamilton had to act quickly to prevent County defender Eli Campbell’s miscued header from falling into his own net before rushing out to save at the feet of Cerny, who had been set up by Danilo.

The former Feyenoord striker got his rewards for his hard work when he closed down Hamilton and blocked an attempted pass, squeezing the ball in from a tight angle, giving the visitors a solid interval lead.
Jordan White and James Brown replaced Chilvers and Efete at halftime as Cowie sought a way back into the game in the second half, and the home side nearly equalised in the 58th minute when Butland made a critical save from an Akil Wright header. At the other end, Hamilton twice saved Cerny and Igamane, but the visitors lacked the same threat, with both sides’ regular flurry of substitutions disturbing the game’s flow. Hamilton saved a long-range drive from replacement Nedim Bajrami before Tavernier thundered in a shot from the edge of the box to boost the tally, but they will need to improve against Spurs and Celtic.

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