RANGERS continued their pre-season preparations with a 3-1 victory over Premier League side West Ham this evening.
Goals from summer signings Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo came either side of a Ryan Kent strike, before Tomas Soucek pulled one back for David Moyes’ side.
It was a warm evening in Glasgow as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men ran out in front of a home crowd for the first time this season.
There were Ibrox debuts for John Souttar and Antonio Colak in the starting XI, with Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence making their first home appearances in the second-half.
Rangers started the match with Jon McLaughlin in goal and a back four of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, John Souttar and Borna Barisic.
John Lundstram, Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara were in midfield, with Scott Wright and Ryan Kent supporting striker Antonio Colak.
Jon McLaughlin pulled off a fantastic save with 15 minutes on the clock as a ball from midfield found the run of Manuel Lanzini.
The striker was driving into the box and managed to get a shot away but McLaughlin stood tall to block the initial effort before managing to get a touch on the rebound to clear the danger.
Rangers were also looking lively as they searched for a sight of goal at the other end with Nayef Aguerd putting in a strong challenge to deny Antonio Colak a shot from inside the West Ham box.
Declan Rice was booked before half-time for a late challenge on Ryan Kent as the Rangers midfielder skipped through the West Ham midfield as he looked to push the Light Blues forward.
Said Benrahma had an effort blocked by Borna Barisic as it hit the side netting and went out for a corner to the visitors to send the game in goalless at the break.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst made three changes to his side at the break with Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and James Sands coming on in place of John Souttar, Ryan Jack and Scott Wright.
Just three minutes into the second-half the two summer signings who were introduced at the break linked-up well to give Rangers the advantage.
The move started with captain James Tavernier down the right, as he fed the ball forward to Rabbi Matondo. He cut back the ball back from the byline, picking out Tom Lawrence and the Welsh international drilled a lovely low finish beyond Lukasz Fabianski.
Within minutes it was 2-0 to Rangers, James Tavernier again started the move, this time sending the ball infield to Tom Lawrence, who fed it out to the left to Ryan Kent. The winger struck the ball first time to send a powerful ball into the back of the net.
It was a fantastic start to the second-half for Rangers, who were three goals ahead by the hour mark.
It was another debut goal, this time for Rabbi Matondo. He combined well with Tom Lawrence in the box as the ball was flicked into the path of the 20-year-old and fired home his first goal in Light Blue.
Jarrod Bowen had a shot blocked for the visitors as they looked to get a goal back in this friendly, before Jon McLaughlin pulled off another impressive save as he got a strong hand to a shot from Pablo Fornals to push it out for a corner.
From the resulting set-piece, the ball was swung into the box with Tomas Soucek getting a touch to guide the ball beyond Mclaughlin.
Rangers now prepare for their final pre-season match of the 2022/23 season as Spurs are the visitors to Ibrox.
RANGERS: McLaughlin, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar (Sands, 46), Barisic (Devine, 75), Lundstram, Jack (Lawrence, 46), Kamara (McCann, 75), Wright (Matondo, 46), Kent (Arfield, 75), Colak (Fashion Jr, 59).
Subs: McGregor, McCrorie, Katic, Kelly, King.
West Ham: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Zouma, Fornals, Antonio, Lanzini, Bowen, Benrahma, Aguerd, Rice.
Subs: Areola, Randolph, Coufal, Vlasic, Diop, Downes, Masuaku, Soucek, Coventry, Mubama, Baptiste.
Referee: Nick Walsh
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