Livingston this afternoon, defeating the home side 4-1
to remain four points adrift of Celtic in the title
race.
The Light Blues record at Almondvale has not been the
best, with one defeat and two draws in six visits, but
today's victory could and should have been even
greater.
Manager Alex McLeish made two changes from last Sunday
with Allan Hutton and Steven Thompson replacing Zurab
Khizanishvili, absent with a back injury, and Dado
Prso.
The visiting support occupied three sides of the
ground, making up more than 60% of the 8,789
spectators.
Fernando Ricksen came close in eight minutes with a
twenty-yard free-kick that was deflected inches wide,
then taking the corner himself Jean-Alain Boumsong's
header flew just over.
Home goalkeeper Roddy McKenzie produced an outstanding
point-blank save in twelve minutes, turning wide Nacho
Novo's header from a Peter Lovenkrands cross.
It was all Rangers in these opening stages - four
minutes later Bob Malcolm's 25-yard drive from a
Ricksen pass was held by McKenzie at the second
attempt.
Ricksen received his first yellow card of the domestic
season on the half-hour mark for an apparent foul on
David McNamee - a ludicrous decision by Referee Dougie
McDonald given that the Ranger clearly won the ball.
The opening goal was surely inevitable - given the
Ibrox pressure - and it duly arrived in 36 minutes
when Peter Lovenkrands hooked the ball home after
Boumsong headed Ricksen's corner down.
Three minutes later Novo only just missed the target
with a snapshot after Marvin Andrews' long ball had
been nodded on by Thompson.
Rangers had entirely dominated the first-half, and
resumed play after the interval in much the same mood
- Namouchi dispossessing Oscar Rubio in 54 minutes
only to see McKenzie deflect his shot onto and over
the bar.
Ricksen's subsequent corner found Novo completely
unmarked at the far post - and it was 2-0.
The lead was halved in 61 minutes however when a
McNamee throw deflected by Vignal saw Klos miss-punch
his attempted clearance - Craig Easton finding the net
with a clever overhead kick.
Any hopes of a Livvie comeback were squashed six
minutes later however when yet another Ricksen corner
was headed home by Thompson - three Fernando corners,
three goals.
The home side were down but not yet out - Burton
O'Brien's low left-foot shot from the edge of the box
being turned behind at full stretch by Klos in 72
minutes.
Sixty seconds later there was a welcome return after
more than two months absence through injury for Alex
Rae, who replaced Ricksen - Shota Arveladze
substituting for Novo at the same time.
Rubio came close to reducing the deficit in 78 minutes
when his header from an O'Brien corner was just over -
but five minutes later it was 4-1 when Namouchi
slotted home a Vignal pass.
Alex Rae came close to capping the perfect comeback
with a goal in 87 minutes when his low shot was
parried by McKenzie - and Hutton's netbound effort
from the rebound was blocked on the line by Scott
McLaughlin.
McKenzie again denied Rangers a fifth goal in the
dying seconds when he saved Arveladze's effort from a
Hutton cross.
The final whistle left the Light Blue legions in good
heart for Wednesday - but if Rangers are to defeat
Celtic then certain defensive deficiencies exposed
today will require to be eradicated.
Alex McLeish afterwards summarised:
"The target was to win. Confidence is now sky-high. It
was good to see Alex Rae back - he brings commitment
and technique to the team. I will give Wednesday's
team careful consideration - but won't take any
chances fitness-wise.
LIVINGSTON McKenzie; McNamee, Dorado, Rubio, Stanic
(Boyack 34); O'Brien, McLaughlin, Easton, Snowdon
(Libbra 58); Hamilton (Lilley 77), Brittain
UNUSED SUBS Meldrum, Kernaghan, McMenamin, Snodgrass
RANGERS Klos; Hutton, Andrews, Boumsong, Vignal;
Namouchi, Ricksen (A. Rae 73), Malcolm, Lovenkrands;
Novo (Arveladze 73), Thompson
UNUSED SUBS G. Smith, Ball, Hughes, Ross, Burke
REFEREE Dougie McDonald
Attendance 8,789