Rangers 4-0 Falkirk

Rangers comfortably beat Falkirk to remain four points behind Scottish Championship leaders Hearts.

Nicky Law's drive separated the two sides at the interval, the midfielder scoring midway through the first half.

Lewis Macleod, fresh from being called up to the Scotland squad, headed the home side's second.

Kenny Miller stretched out a foot to net Rangers' third and his replacement, Nicky Clark, struck to complete the scoring.

Ally McCoist's side struggled to carve open Falkirk in the first quarter.

The visitors were attacking when they got the chance, but David Smith finished poorly after good work from Luke Leahy.

But Peter Houston's men crumbled in the 25th minute after the home side's first spell of sustained pressure.

Lewis Macleod and Nicky Clark both scored for Rangers

They initially defended well, Joe Shaughnessy putting in a crucial challenge on Lee Wallace after Macleod had put Falkirk on the back foot with an exquisite long pass.

Macleod then split the defence with a pass to Miller, but again Jamie MacDonald narrowed the angle and blocked.

The Bairns struggled to deal with the resulting corner, with Darren McGregor and Miller having efforts half-cleared before David Templeton put the ball back into the goalmouth.

Peter Grant blocked it, but David Smith was caught waiting for the ball to come to him and Law nipped in and fired it into the bottom corner from six yards.

Falkirk tried to hit back before the break, but Shaughnessy skewed a shot wide after running from his own half and Will Vaulks had a 20-yard strike deflected just wide after good skill.

Shaughnessy also beat Rangers goalkeeper Steve Simonsen to a corner but could not keep his header down.

However, they were leaving gaps at the back and Templeton had several chances, hitting one wide and having two other efforts deflected out of harm's way.

Rangers punished them when Blair Alston's flick went straight to a light blue shirt following a Falkirk throw-in deep inside the home side's half.

Miller broke and fed Jon Daly, on moments earlier for Kris Boyd, and the Irishman crossed for Macleod to arrive on the six-yard line and bullet a header into the net.

Macleod soon moved from left midfield to the right when Steven Smith replaced Templeton, but he was just as effective, arrowing a low cross from 18 yards across the goalmouth for Miller to slide in and steer home in the 75th minute.

Rangers went further ahead in the 82nd minute when Wallace burst to the bye-line yards from goal and forced the ball back for Clark to guide into the empty net with MacDonald stranded.