Rangers managed to turn the home game against St. Johnstone into a 4-0 victory. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team was by far the better match on Ibrox, although it had trouble converting the dominance into goals in the initial phase. Rangers managed to win through Tillman, Antonio Colak, Arfield and Lawrence. The Scots therefore seem ready for the match in the play-offs of the Champions League against PSV.
For Rangers, the game against the Eindhoven team is of course one of the most important of the season. Van Bronckhorst saved some basic players from the midweek return at Royale Union Saint-Gillis (3-0) in the duel with St. Johnstone: Tom Lawrence, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent and Tilman did not have to appear at the kick-off. Except for Kent, the mentioned players did come in.
The first chance came after seven minutes for Tillman, who accidentally saw the ball land in front of him. However, the midfielder was unable to control the ball, allowing St. Johnstone goalkeeper Remi Matthews to simply pick up the ball. Rangers continued to put pressure in the opening phase and the visitors could not escape. Although the defensive line was not bad at St. Johnstone, it was a matter of waiting for a Rangers goal. It finally came after more than half an hour of play. James Tavernier found Tillman’s head, who hit it off effortlessly. Colak was close to 2-0 moments later, but his header was only promoted to a corner.
Even after the tea, Rangers continued to dominate and that was apparent from the percentage of possession, which was 72 percent just after the break. Attempts by John Lundstram, Borna Barisic and Rabbi Matondo still failed, but more than fifteen minutes after the break it was still hit. On a pass from Matondo, Colak scored after a nice turning movement. Rangers then ran out in the final phase. Ryan Jack reached Matondo after a nice pass, which gave the ball to Arfield: 3-0. Two minutes later it happened again. This time Arfield was the principal and Lawrence finished nicely.
With the win, Rangers now come to nine points from three games in the Scottish Premiership. Earlier, Van Bronckhorst’s team defeated Kilmarnock (2-0) and Livingston (1-2). In between, Union Saint-Gilloise was defeated in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Because PSV managed to get rid of AS Monaco, both teams will meet in the play-offs. The winner of the diptych qualifies for the group stage of the Champions League.