Whittaker 33, Boyd 74, Broadfoot 90)
Falkirk 2 (Riera 25, Barrett 71)
Attendance 47,419
Rangers ran riot at Ibrox today, overwhelming Falkirk
7-2 in what was a thoroughly entertaining game full of
exciting attacking football, with no fewer than three
players in Light Blue scoring their first goals for
the club.
The home side's display will surely bury once and for
all the myth that has been prevalent in Scottish
football since the season's opening day - that Rangers
may be winning, but they were winning ugly, for this
was a class of football rarely seen these days.
Manager Walter Smith made four changes from Tuesday
with Sasa Papac, Steven Whittaker (making his debut),
Nacho Novo and Daniel Cousin (on from the start for
the first time) replacing Kirk Broadfoot, Brahim
Hemdani, DaMarcus Beasley and Jean-Claude Darcheville.
There was a healthy contingent of visiting supporters
on a day when the heavens had opened early morning and
the rain had never relented.
Rangers got off to the perfect start inside one minute
when Barry Ferguson's corner was flicked on at the
near post by Papac, his effort striking the crossbar
before David Weir's header from the rebound was
blocked on the line - Cousin bundling the ball home
from point-blank range.
Three minutes later another Ferguson corner found
McCulloch whose header was held by Falkirk goalkeeper
Tim Krul.
It was all Rangers - Steven Whittaker, out to impress
on his first appearance in Light Blue, cut inside in
six minutes and let loose with a twenty-yarder only
for Krul to prove equal to the task.
The visitors had been very much on the back-foot
inside the opening twenty-five minutes, yet Pedro
Moutinho underlined their threat when his shot from a
Steven Thomson pass was turned wide by Allan McGregor.
Seven minutes later however it was 2-0 when Whittaker
rifled home a low drive with the aid of a deflection
from a Ferguson pass.
Rangers were in total command - and Novo, starting a
game for once, should have made it three in 42 minutes
when released through the middle by Ferguson, only for
Krul to block his effort.
That miss proved costly for within sixty seconds
Falkirk had halved the deficit when Arnau Riera's
25-yard shot whistled home - the first goal conceded
by the Ibrox men this season.
Suddenly the visitors had a foothold in the game - and
when, on the cusp of the interval, former Ranger
Russell Latapy skinned Novo wide on the right his
cutback found Michael Higdon whose shot was deflected
wide.
The half-time whistle perhaps came at the right time
for the Light Blues - for they restarted in determined
fashion in a bid to put the game out of sight.
Novo should have made it 3-1 two minutes in when
released through on goal by Lee McCulloch only for
hesitation to prove fatal, but immediately thereafter
the little Spaniard turned provider - feeding Ferguson
whose twenty-yard drive was touched over by Krul.
The third goal was inevitable - and it duly arrived in
53 minutes when Novo played a one-two with Ferguson
only to completely miss his kick with the goal at his
mercy. Lurking behind however was Cousin who buried
the chance to make it 3-1.
Rangers were threatening to run riot - and four
minutes later Ferguson, through on a Papac pass, saw
his weak chip held by Krul.
Cousin was denied his hat-trick on the hour when,
seizing on a McCulloch pass, his twenty-yard shot was
straight at Krul.
Four minutes later Ferguson shot straight at the
'Bairns' goalkeeper at the end of a flowing move
involving Whittaker and Cousin.
Kris Boyd replaced the ill McCulloch midway through
the second-half, yet unbelievably it was 3-2 in 71
minutes when substitute Graham Barrett took advantage
of David Weir's slip to fasten on to Pedro Moutinho's
pass and chip the ball over the advancing McGregor.
The scoreline was a travesty - but within three
minutes it was 4-2 when Boyd swivelled on Cousin's
cutback to score his first goal since 5 May.
Daniel Cousin departed to a standing ovation in eighty
minutes, to be replaced by Jean-Claude Darcheville,
and Kirk Broadfoot substituted for Novo three minutes
later.
Darcheville it was who made it 5-2 in 87 minutes with
his first goal for the club, sweeping the ball home
after Whittaker's cross had found Boyd whose header
came back off a post.
Two minutes later Darcheville again found the net
after Ferguson's chip across goal had broken off Boyd
into his path.
Falkirk were on their knees - and in the last seconds
of injury time in a lightning break Darcheville
streaked away before slipping the ball into the path
of Broadfoot who swept the ball home for his first
goal in Light Blue.
It was the first time since November 2000 that Rangers
had scored seven in a League game at Ibrox (7-1 v St.
Mirren) and afterwards a contented Walter Smith
reflected:
"We worked very hard and played well for the win. It's
always difficult to fit new players in - you can't
just throw a team together and play perfectly. We're
making progress. Credit Falkirk for playing good
football and not sitting back to defend."
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Cuellar, Weir, Papac;
Whittaker, Ferguson, Thomson, McCulloch (Boyd 68);
Novo (Broadfoot 83), Cousin (Darcheville 80)
UNUSED SUBS Carroll, Shinnie, Emslie, Kinniburgh
FALKIRK Krul; Ross, Barr, Milne, Scobbie; Latapy,
Riera (Arfield 78), Cregg, Thomson; Moutinho (Finnigan
74), Higdon (Barrett 68)
UNUSED SUBS Olejnik, Holden, Aafjes, Moffat
REFEREE Eddie Smith