PATCHED-UP Rangers sauntered to victory over doomed Saints to create the possibility of hacking Celtic’s SPL lead back to seven points if they can win in Sunday’s high noon showdown.
Alex McLeish as without Ronald de Boer, Barry Ferguson, Bert Konterman, Shota Arveladze, Michael Mols and Maurice Ross from recent action but there was never any danger at McDiarmid Park.
Tore Andre Flo scored once and was involved in the second and although he missed a real glaring chance near the end he showed enough appetite to suggest he is ready for Celts on Sunday.
Flo came back into the side along with Billy Dodds, Andrei Kanchelskis and Scott Wilson and there was certainly plenty of good work between the strike pairing of Flo and Dodds.
Norwegian star Flo was making his first start for four games and there seemed a purpose to his play as he linked well with Dodds up front, but it was not until the final moments of the first half that he made the breakthrough for Rangers.
It was Kanchelskis who set him up with a good cross from the right and the former Chelsea striker powered a header to the left corner which Ludo Roy managed to get a touch to but could not prevent from it from finding the net.
The only surprise was that it took Rangers this long to get their noses in front. They were well ahead of struggling Saints in all departments, even if they were not playing at their best.
Flo had looked in the mood as early as the second minute when he took a pass from Arthur Numan and hammered a right foot shot which Roy brilliantly pushed past for a corner.
He was looking for a penalty in the seventh minute when Jim Weir bundled him over after Dodds had flicked the ball through but referee David Somers judged it was a fair challenge.
Then in 22 minutes Roy saved Saints again when he brilliantly pushed Fernando Ricksen’s header onto the bar and over for a corner after the Dutchman had connected with Neil McCann’s cross from the left.
McCann’s ability had Saints in trouble again in 29 minutes when his whipped corner from the right flew all the way to the back post where Dodds met it with his head but the ball smacked off the junction of post and bar.
Flo then turned creator in 31 minutes when he danced into the left side of the box the chipped the ball into the middle but Kanchelskis could not get any power on his header and Roy saved easily.
Dodds does not get many chances to prove his worth, although he has featured a lot more under McLeish, and he was holding his head after two chances were missed in the space of a minute.
Flo played him in after 32 minutes but Dodds’ low shot flew past the left hand post and then a minute later the two Rangers strikers combined again but this time Roy was equal to Dodds’ driven shot.
Stefan Klos had been a spectator but in 36 minutes he was finally called into action when Paul Hartley tried his luck with a 25-yard freekick after Stephen Hughes had brought down Nick Dasovic.
However, the German had no trouble with the effort, collecting the ball low to his left hand post.
Hartley blotted his copybook with a senseless booking for dissent in 43 minutes but there was worse to come for St Johnstone when Flo headed Rangers in front in first half injury time.
It was the 24th goal of the season for the towering Norwegian and he as instrumental in putting Rangers two ahead 15 minutes into the second half.
Flo showed great footwork as he collected Kanchelskis’ pass and burst into the box. He tried to chip Roy and the keeper just got enough on the ball to deflect it onto the left hand post.
However, Ricksen was on hand to pop the rebound into the net which undoubtedly soothed the frustration he felt for collecting a yellow card two minutes earlier for a late challenge on Weir.
It was the last piece of action Ricksen was involved in as he was taken off in 66 minutes as Christian Nerlinger made his long-awaited comeback – seven months after being injured in just his third game for Rangers.
The German star, who was hurt in the second leg of Rangers’ Champions League qualifier with Maribor, slotted into midfield fairly comfortably. Whether his involvement is enough to merit inclusion on Sunday is unclear.
The game was won by the time he came on but Rangers should have been more emphatic winners.
Remarkably, Flo missed an opportunity which was reminiscent of Peter van Vossen’s gaffe at Parkhead five years ago when he shot over the bar from six yards with a gaping net in front of him.
Kanchelskis did well to set up the chance, shaking off the attentions of Weir before squaring the ball to Flo but the big man stubbed his shot into the ground and it bounced over the top.
In the end it mattered little as Rangers had the points in the bag. The build-up for Celtic begins now.
ST JOHNTONE: Roy; Lynch, Dods, Weir, Lovenkrands; Maher, Kane (MacDonald 58), Dasovic, Murray, Hartley; Jones (Falconer 76). Subs not used – Cuthbert, McCluskey, McBride.
Bookings: Hartley (43), Dasovic (65)
RANGERS: Klos; Vidmar, Wilson, Amoruso, Numan; Kanchelskis, Ricksen (Nerlinger 66), Hughes, McCann; Dodds, Flo. Subs not used – McGregor, Caniggia, Latapy, Lovenkrands.
Bookings: Ricksen (58)
Ref: David Somers.
Att: 6,382
Man of the match: Fernando Ricksen
Moment of the match: The return of Nerlinger to top team action.