RANGERS continued their winning momentum in the Scottish Premiership with a 3-2 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this evening.
Indeed, the Light Blues were forced to come from behind in the contest as Chris Stokes headed Killie into a sixth minute lead before Alfredo Morelos brought Rangers back on level terms before the interval.
The visitors wasted precious little time after the restart in completing the turnaround as Ryan Kent finished expertly before Morelos doubled his tally with a header, rendering Joe Wright’s late volley redundant as the three points travelled back up to Ibrox.
Michael Beale named three changes to his Gers side for the trip to Ayrshire, with Jon McLaughlin, Scott Arfield and Glen Kamara coming into the starting lineup.
However, the Gers suffered an early setback as Killie opened the scoring inside five minutes. Liam Polworth had earlier threatened with a corner from the right that Ash Taylor headed wide, before an inswinging delivery from Danny Armstrong on the opposite side was met by Chris Stokes who crashed his header beyond Jon McLaughlin.
With the Ayrshire side set out to doggedly defend their early advantage, Rangers began to build periods of sustained possession. A promising burst through the heart of the Killie rearguard from Fashion Jr. brought a corner and, from Borna Barisic’s subsequent delivery, Connor Goldson wriggled free at the far post and forced Sam Walker into a smart stop.
Derek McInnes’ side threatened briefly after Armstrong shimmied inside and brought a diving save from McLaughlin, before the Light Blues struck a leveller on 22 minutes. Terrific combination play involving James Tavernier and Fashion Jr. allowed the Zambian to spin his marker and break beyond the Kilmarnock defensive line. After lifting his head to assess his options, the forward picked out Alfredo Morelos at the far post who stroked his finish beyond Walker to restore parity.
There was a flurry of activity as the clock ticked towards half-time. Firstly, Glen Kamara sent a dangerous searching delivery that only narrowly evaded both Morelos and Fashion Jr. in the danger area, with Killie going close to beating McLaughlin when Kyle Vassell connected with a half-volley from a floated free-kick.
Ryan Kent did ever so well to manufacture space for a shot just two minutes before the interval, only for the sting on his goalbound effort to be taken out of the shot before it worked Walker in the home side’s goal.
There wasn’t much goalmouth action for all of Rangers’ dominance of the ball, but they took full advantage of a quick back-to-front attack six minutes into the second half to complete the turnaround. A long clearance from Tavernier allowed Kent to race in-behind the Killie defence and when he got too much purchase on his square pass towards Fashion Jr., it was Morelos who collected the pass. The Colombian returned the favour by picking out Kent who collected the ball and buried an unerring finish into the bottom corner.
The Ayrshire side were proving a threat from dead ball situations, underlining their aerial prowess just moments after the Gers had taken the lead when Joe Wright met Armstrong’s free-kick but could only steer his header off target.
Fashion Jr. was once again proving a thorn in the opposition, ghosting beyond the Killie defence before squaring the ball dangerously into the six-yard area. Unfortunately for Rangers, there were no takers to provide the end product.
The away side were then reduced to ten men on the stroke of the hour-mark. Armstrong was already on a booking from the first half when he motioned his elbow into Barisic as the Croatian hooked the ball to safety by the corner flag, with referee Kevin Clancy issuing a second yellow card.
Rangers immediately embarked on rubber stamping their numerical superiority as Morelos went close on 65 minutes. Barisic timed his overlap on the left to perfection before standing up a delicious cross that the Colombian rose highest to attack, although he could not keep his header under the crossbar.
He wasn’t to be denied just six minutes later, however, as he doubled his tally on the evening by putting the finish touch on a carbon copy move. It was Kamara on this occasion who controlled possession on the left, poking a well-timed pass into Barisic whose cross took a deflection on its path off Ryan Alebiosu. The trajectory of the cross allowed Morelos to position himself perfectly between the posts, diverting a terrific header into the bottom corner to add the Gers’ third of the match.
The Colombian was withdrawn moments later after coming ever so close to securing his hat-trick. After powering through several Kilmarnock challenges, the Colombian’s left-footed effort was palmed away by Walker as it looked destined for the bottom corner.
There was still time for a late resurgence from the home side as Joe Wright lashed an unstoppable volley into the top corner from an Ash Taylor flick-on to provide Killie with a glimmer of hope heading into the final six minutes plus additional time.
McLaughlin was forced into action from an audacious Kyle Lafferty strike from distance as the clock ticked into stoppage time, with the Gers successfully seeing the game out to continue their unbeaten league run since Beale’s appointment as manager.
KILMARNOCK: Walker, Alebiosu, Taylor, Stokes (Robinson, 79), Wright, Armstrong, Power, Polworth, McKenzie (Alston, 36), Vassell (Lafferty, 79), Doidge (McInroy, 63)
Subs not used: Hemmings, Sanders, Waters, Lyons, Murray
RANGERS: McLaughlin, Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic, Lundstram, Kamara (Sands, 82), Arfield, Fashion Jr., Morelos (Tillman, 77), Kent
Subs not used: McGregor, Jack, Wright, McCann, King, Devine, Lowry
REFEREE: Kevin Clancy