On a McDiarmid Park pitch that was certainly not conducive to slick football, the Ivorian wasted precious little time in endearing himself to the Rangers supporters as he grabbed his first goal for the club in his first league start.

The three points were then assured in the second half when the captain confidently dispatched a pair of spot-kicks within a ten-minute spell to maintain the side’s 100 per cent record in 2024.

Philippe Clement named four changes to his side from the midweek triumph over Ross County, with all three January additions, which included first league starts for both Diomande and Oscar Cortes, given the nod from the off.

There was very little of note in the opening exchanges as Rangers looked to find their footing on a pitch that cut up at the merest sign of contact.

With the contest largely confined to the perimeter of the halfway line, there was encouragement when Todd Cantwell won a free-kick on the right-hand side that James Tavernier delivered to no avail in the St. Johnstone penalty area.

Indeed, the most promising moment of the first portion of the game arrived when John Lundstram, celebrating his 30th birthday today, floated a delicious ball over the top in search of Cortes, although Ryan McGowan recovered quickly for the hosts to hack clear for a corner.

Although they were creating very little going in the opposite direction, Craig Levein’s side looked worthy of going in at the interval with the game still goalless.

That was until Diomande took it upon himself to mark his first league start in Rangers colours with a fantastic individual strike. St. Johnstone failed to clear their lines when a pass into Cantwell on the edge of the penalty area broke down, with McGowan’s stabbed clearance picked up by the Ivorian midfielder who set his sights on Dimitar Mitov’s goal and fired an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner.

The goal seemed to inject energy into the visitors’ play, and they almost doubled their advantage before the interval when Cantwell combined neatly with Scott Wright before the latter stabbed what was an admittedly difficult finish wide of the post.

Rangers emerged for the second 45 minutes with a spring in their step after the opening goal, with Fabio Silva next to go close when Diomande’s raking cross was met first-time by the Portuguese forward whose cushioned volley forced Mitov into a stop at full stretch down to his right.

Indeed, St. Johnstone’s forays forward were few and far between, although they carved out a decent moment when Connor Smith centred for substitute Benjamin Kimpioka to cause a brief moment of concern in the Gers ranks.

Cantwell then floated a dangerous delivery across the face of the hosts’ goal moments later that Dujon Sterling, himself replacing Wright at the interval, was unfortunate not to glance towards goal.

A long, searching pass directed towards Silva almost engineered a dangerous opportunity on 64 minutes, with the forward knocking the ball into Sterling who just couldn’t quite work the ball out of his feet under pressure from a pair of St. Johnstone defenders.

Prior to that, Tom Lawrence was introduced from the substitutes bench, with the midfielder drawing a free-kick in a promising position when he was felled on the counter-attack. Borna Barisic assumed responsibility and caused Mitov to scramble over to his left-hand side to collect his effort.

What followed was then a moment that eased any Rangers anxiety in the away ends. After Sterling’s initial appeals were waved away following a foul on the Englishman inside the penalty area, the referee was advised to take a trip to the pitchside monitor.

Upon further inspection it was evident that Andrew Considine had impeded the substitute as the pair contested a loose ball inside the penalty area, with Tavernier making no mistake from 12 yards to double the away side’s advantage.

There was still time for the Light Blues to put the game firmly to bed. Again, the on-pitch referee failed to spot a handball against Luke Robinson as Lawrence lashed an effort towards goal; Tavernier once again assumed responsibility after VAR advised the referee to have a closer look, with the captain sweeping into the top corner to wrap up a priceless three points.

ST. JOHNSTONE: Mitov, Considine, McGowan, Gordon, Carey, Sidibeh (Clark, 82), Robinson, Smith, Keltjens (Kimpioka, 45), Philipps, C. Smith (Kucheriavyi, 79)

Subs not used: Richards, Gallacher, Jaiyesimi, Olufunwa, Sprangler, K. Smith

RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic (Ridvan, 80), Lundstram, Diomande, Cantwell (Lawrence, 58), Wright (Sterling, 45), Cortes (McCausland, 67), Silva (Dessers, 67)

Subs not used: McCrorie, Balogun, King, Raskin