SPL, and at the same time closed the gap on second-top
Hearts, with a 4-0 win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox this
afternoon.
Afterwards, the appointment of Paul Le Guen to succeed
Alex McLeish as Manager was announced by the club.
Manager Alex McLeish made two changes from Villarreal
with Dado Prso and Kris Boyd replacing Hamed Namouchi
and Peter Lovenkrands.
Rangers were on top from the opening minutes with a
hanging cross from Thomas Buffel almost finding Boyd
at the far post in eight minutes.
The opening goal was delayed just four minutes however
– and it was the former Killie player who netted
against his old club when Prso’s cutback found Chris
Burke whose mishit shot fell perfectly for Boyd.
It was all Rangers – Boyd almost notched a second in
eighteen minutes when his shot from a Prso pass was
blocked by Frazer Wright, then sixty seconds later
goalkeeper Alan Combe denied Burke after the winger
had created an opening with a mazy run from the
byeline.
Combe again kept his side in the game when he held a
25-yard drive from Barry Ferguson following a Burke
corner in twenty minutes.
Dado Prso, operating wide on the left of midfield, had
been giving his opposite number Lindsay Wilson such a
torrid time that Rugby Park Boss Jim Jeffries felt
obliged to substitute him after just 22 minutes,
bringing on David Lilley.
Six minutes later Boyd was again denied by Combe when
his twenty-yard chip from a Ferguson pass was
comfortably held.
Rangers’ domination of the play was so complete that
the one-goal interval margin was bordering on the
preposterous, yet three minutes after the restart
Killie almost levelled matters when a Colin Nish cross
was met by Paul Di Giacomo whose volley was held by
Ronald Waterreus.
Boyd had the ball in the net again when he connected
with a Burke drive only for the goal to be chalked off
for offside in 54 minutes, then two minutes later Prso
might have done better than shoot wide of the target
after cutting inside from a Ferguson pass with Boyd
and Thomas Buffel both unmarked in the middle.
Lovenkrands replaced Boyd in 65 minutes as Rangers
went in search of a killer second goal, which was
almost provided by Ferguson two minutes later with a
twenty-yard free-kick that was inches wide.
Julien Rodriguez was the unlikely source of the second
goal which arrived in 70 minutes when he headed the
ball home after a Ferguson free-kick had been met by
the head of Sotirios Kyrgiakos at the far post.
Rangers now cut loose – and went 3-0 up in 83 minutes
when Prso netted from the penalty spot after Combe had
upended Lovenkrands as he rounded him from a Buffel
pass.
The goalkeeper was red-carded for his troubles,
leaving Kilmarnock with just ten men as all three
substitutes had already been used – rather ironic as
they had listed two ‘keepers on the bench, namely
Graeme Smith and Cameron Bell.
Four minutes later it was 4-0 when Lovenkrands rifled
home a superb thirty-yard free-kick.
Afterwards a relaxed Alex McLeish reflected:
“I’m very pleased. We had a spring in our step, and
suffered no European hangover. Kris Boyd finds space
in the box, has movement and will always score goals.”
RANGERS Waterreus; Hutton, Kyrgiakos, Rodriguez,
Murray; Burke (Novo 72), Ferguson (Ricksen 87),
Hendani, Prso; Boyd (Lovenkrands 65), Buffel
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Andrews, Namouchi, Smith
KILMARNOCK Combe; Wilson (Lilley 22), Ford, Wright,
Hay; Invincible (McDonald 81), Fowler, Johnston,
Naismith; Nish (Campbell 79), Di Giacomo
UNUSED SUBS Bell, Smith, Locke, Leven
REFEREE Dougie McDonald