Rangers moved up to second in the Scottish Premiership and cut leaders Hearts’ advantage to three points with a 5-1 win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox.
The evening started well for Danny Röhl’s Gers, with the news Celtic’s game at Aberdeen had been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. That gave them the chance to leapfrog their rivals into second and close in on the Jambos.
It got better inside five minutes, too. Killie’s Dominic Thompson clumsily brought down Djeidi Gassama as the Rangers man looked to control a neat pass to feet, leading to referee David Dickinson awarding a penalty and showing the left-back a straight red card.
James Tavernier made no mistake from the spot, yet the storm expected to follow did not materialise. Mikey Moore looked bright when he cut in from the left on numerous occasions, but there was a distinct lack of urgency or creativity otherwise.
James Tavernier opened the scoring from the penalty spot
Despite being down to 10, the visitors should have at least been level by the break. Greg Kiltie charged down the right and cut the ball back for Bruce Anderson, who somehow swept a shot across the face of goal and behind when it looked simpler to score.
Bojan Miovski scored the crucial second goal
Rangers breathed a sigh of relief when Bojan Miovski fired in a low shot, after an exchange of passes with Mohamed Diomande, to double their lead just before the hour, which seemed to take the wind from their opponents’ sails.
Oliver Antman was on target for Rangers’ fourth goal
January signing Andreas Skov Olsen made it 3-0 with 16 minutes to play with a stylish finish after Moore’s square ball, but a touch of gloss was taken from an otherwise solid second-half performance when Jack Butland gifted Kiltie a consolation when his misjudged clearance was seized on.
Mikey Moore celebrates scoring the fifth goal
But Rangers soon made them wish they had never done so.
Debutant Tuur Rommens teed up Oliver Antman to roll in a fourth in the 90th minute, before Moore scored the goal his stellar performance more than deserved when he stroked home after Antman turned provider.