RANGERS were forced to cling on desperately to all three points after allowing Livingston back into a match in which they were dead and buried and losing 4-0.
Gers boss Alex McLeish had warned his players of the danger of shifting their gaze prematurely towards Saturday’s Old Firm game but there was no danger of that as the Light Blues raced to a 3-0 goal lead within 17 minutes.
Even without the creative influence of Mikel Arteta, Rangers were relentless in their forward raids to the extent that you half suspected Livvy boss Jim Leishman to throw a towel onto the pitch to save his bewildered side from further punishment.
However the second half was a different story. After Shota Arveladze had completed his hat-trick, subs Roland Zarate and then Barry Wilson scored to reduce the deficit and make the last five minutes a nervy affair.
Ex-Rangers defender Gary Bollan’s sending off for a second booking, however, seemed to have stopped a miracle comeback in its tracks
But when Zarate scored again it looked as if a draw, at least, was on the cards and most Rangers fans were relieved to hear the final whistle, especially after Wilson had just sent a free kick high into the stand in the closing seconds.
Such an outcome had looked highly unlikely following a devastating opening burst from Rangers.
The Ibrox side had struggled in the opening period of recent league matches and when Ronald de Boer slammed a shot off the legs of goalkeeper Javier Broto within 10 seconds a further night of frustration looked a possibility.
Within six minutes such fears were vanquished. The rampant de Boer was hauled down at the edge of the box and club captain Barry Ferguson swept the resulting free kick around the wall and low past the despairing dive of Broto.
With Arteta missing, Arveladze took up a position on the right of midfield from where he was able to make late runs into the penalty box.
After nine minutes he executed the manoeuvre to perfection to glance a diving header from Neil McCann’s cross high past Broto.
At that point there seemed no way back for the visitors who had offered very little in the way of an attacking threat, with Eugene Dadi often left as the sole player not being asked to perform defensive duties.
There was a brief scare for Rangers when Lee Makel’s cross bounced off the helpless Gary Bollan and off for a goal kick but the panic was extinguished when Arveladze latched onto Fernando Ricksen’s corner to head in his second goal of the night and Rangers’ third.
The pressure was relentless and Michael Mols blazed a shot over after working out an opportunity and then Arveladze shot wide in search of his hat-trick.
The Georgian was to belatedly get his third as the second half opened in much the same style as the first.
De Boer’s cross was wonderfully dummied by Mols and the former Ajax striker drilled the ball gleefully past the goalkeeper.
With the victory seemingly already achieved, Rangers visibly decreased their pressure allowing Zarate the chance to glide home a beautifully struck free kick.
The procession towards Broto’s goal was further disrupted by first a cat running onto the pitch and then the surprise of Livvy battering in another goal, this time from Wilson.
McLeish then withdrew Ferguson and de Boer to allow Christian Nerlinger to make his first start of the season and Peter Lovenkrands to return from injury.
Rangers, however, had lost all sense of rhythm and fingernails were being chewed all round the stadium when Zarate bagged a second goal.
The full-time whistle brought three points but also posed a few questions as to how it had got so close.
RANGERS: Klos; Muscat, Moore, Amoruso, Numan (Ross 70); Ricksen, de Boer (Lovenkrands 63), Ferguson(c) (Nerlinger 63); McCann, Mols, Arveladze.
Subs not used: McGregor, Hughes,
LIVINGSTON: Broto; Brinquin, Andrews, Rubio, Bollan; Makel, O’Brien (Quino 70), Camacho (Wilson 46), Cherif; Bingham, Dadi (Zarate 46)
Subs not used: McEwan, Bahoken
Booked: Bollan (24)
Ref: Dougie McDonald
Att: 45,992
Man of the Match: Shota Arveladze