Rangers 3 (Adam 22, Boyd 27, Prso 57) Kilmarnock 0
Attendance 48,289
Manager Paul Le Guen made just the one enforced change
from Auxerre with Sasa Papac replacing the injured
Steven Smith against a Kilmarnock side containing two
former Rangers' players, namely Allan Johnston
and Peter Leven.
Rangers, wearing all-blue, found themselves under
pressure in the opening stages with Kilmarnock making
all the early running. Indeed Danny Invincible might
have done better in fifteen minutes than head wide
from a Grant Murray cross.
That seemed to wake the Ibrox men up - for
within sixty seconds Dado Prso's overhead kick
from Nacho Novo's cross was saved at full
stretch by visiting goalkeeper Graeme Smith.
The opening goal when it arrived was a thing of beauty
- Charlie Adam taking a crossfield pass from
Prso in 22 minutes before ghosting past a couple of
defenders and firing a superb shot into the net from
the edge of the area.
Three minutes later the youngster was inches wide with
a 22-yard chip from Novo's pass.
Rangers were now well on top - and it was 2-0 in
27 minutes with an opportunistic counter from Kris
Boyd who netted from close range after Novo's
chip from a Prso pass had been clawed away by Smith.
The striker's goal was a noteworthy one, putting
him into second place (above John Hartson) in the SPL
goalscorers table with 89.
There was certainly no sign of a European hangover as
the Light Blues surged forward - Novo being
denied by Smith from a Boyd cutback with the
goalkeeper smothering the ball at his feet.
Killie Manager Jim Jefferies made a substitution at
the interval with Simon Ford replacing Gary Wales
- and the Englishman almost made an instant
impact of the wrong kind when he sliced Novo's
volley off a Papac cross towards his own goal, Smith
making a spectacular save to spare his
teammates' blushes.
The resultant Adam corner found Prso whose header
flashed inches over.
Six minutes later the Croatian's thirty-yard
volley from an Allan McGregor clearance was just too
high - but Prso would not be denied, making it
3-0 in 57 minutes when he moved onto a Boyd pass then
rounded a defender before rifling his shot home.
Immediately thereafter Libor Sionko replaced Dado, who
went off to a standing ovation.
Ford was not having the most enjoyable of afternoons
- his stumble on the hour releasing Boyd who
should have done better than shoot weakly straight at
Smith.
Five minutes later Thomas Buffel replaced Novo, and in
69 minutes the Belgian released Ferguson with a superb
pass, the goalkeeper parrying his effort.
Buffel's movement and class had given the Light
Blue attack a different dimension - sixty
seconds later he cut in from the left and fired in an
eighteen-yard shot that Smith held, then on eighty
minutes his superb run through the heart of the Killie
defence ended with a sublime chip that Smith at full
stretch could only parry, Filip Sebo's drive
from the rebound being blocked.
Rangers were playing some superb football - and
another sliderule Ferguson pass four minutes later
found Sionko whose low shot was blocked by the Killie
goalkeeper.
A 3-0 win was more than satisfactory however -
and afterwards a happy Le Guen summarised:
“This was a very good performance. Confidence is
growing - we must carry on. We had eight or nine
clear chances. It was a good, collective
performance.”
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Hemdani, Svensson, Papac;
Novo (Buffel 65), Ferguson, Clement, Adam; Prso
(Sionko 58), Boyd (Boyd 73)
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Rodriguez, Ponroy, Stanger
KILMARNOCK Smith; G. Murray (S. Murray 76), Greer,
Wright, Hay; Invincible, Fowler, Johnston, Leven (Di
Giacomo 73); Wales (Ford 45), Naismith
UNUSED SUBS Combe, Ford, Dodds, Di Giacomo, S. Murray,
O'Leary, Campbell
REFEREE Kenny Clark