Postpublished at 16:26 Greenwich Mean Time
Rangers 1-1 St Mirren
Striker Toyosi Olusanya goes down inside the Rangers box, but the penalty shout is waved away by VAR.
They do have a free-kick, though, but Mark O'Hara sends it way over the crossbar.
Vaclav Cerny came to the rescue for Rangers in a 2-1 victory over St Mirren that keeps them six points off the Scottish Premiership's top two.
Mohamed Diomande gave the home side an early lead when he smashed in from close range early on.
Alex Gogic headed St Mirren level before the break and Toyosi Olusanya thought he had given the Buddies the lead, only to be flagged offside.
Cerny added to his two midweek Europa League goals against FCSB as he converted from substitute Cyriel Dessers' forceful set-up play.
Philippe Clement's Rangers travel to face second-placed Aberdeen on Wednesday evening.
Stephen Robinson's St Mirren are 10th, two points above the bottom two, and host St Johnstone next.
Olusanya threatened early when he made a great run and was practically one-on-one with Jack Butland but watched his effort roll past the left-hand post.
Against the run of play, it was Rangers who led.
Nicolas Raskin's initial shot was saved by Ellery Balcombe but the ball was popped back out straight into the feet of Diomande, who smashed it beyond the keeper.
Gogic levelled things up when he powerfully turned in Mark O'Hara's perfectly delivered corner after rising highest in a crowded area.
It was an improved Rangers performance in the second period, but it was the visitors who thought they had taken the lead when Olusanya slotted beyond Butland.
Olusanya ran clear of Robin Propper to net but, fortunately for the defender, the flag was eventually raised for offside and Propper later made way for Rangers captain James Tavernier.
Dessers had also come off the bench and the forward burst past St Mirren's defence to set up Cerny's fifth goal in three games, a low and firm shot.
Clement rang the changes following Rangers’ 4-0 midweek success, including the rare absence from the starting XI of Tavernier.
But boos at half-time and the introduction of Dessers and Tavernier in the second half showed Clement’s plan did not quite go the way he had hoped.
Cerny once again proved his importance but things look likely to only get tougher for Rangers.
Next up is a trip to Pittodrie to take on Jimmy Thelin's high-flying Aberdeen, who are yet to drop points at home this season, and then Hampden beckons with the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Motherwell.
Although St Mirren did not take any points, the Ibrox performance was exactly what Robinson will have been looking following a 4-0 defeat by Hearts eight days earlier.
There was some solid defending at one end, impressive attacking at the other, and on a different day some of the more glaring chances would have found the net.
Olusanya put in an immense shift and Gogic's goal proved what a threat St Mirren can be from set-pieces.
But, in Simo Valakari's rejuvenated St Johnstone, St Mirren face a tricky task to arrest a four-match losing run on Wednesday evening.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "We had a really good performance on Thursday [in the Europa League], we had an ok performance today but we started with seven new players who weren't in the building two months ago.
"They need to get this experience to become better. That's a work in progress so it's important to take this well-deserved point."
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "The performance was terrific.
"We asked for a reaction, we said to them don't worry about the result just give us a performance and they gave that.
"If they perform like that in the next two games we'll be ok."
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 24 | 25 |
| |
2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 25 |
| |
3 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 19 |
| |
4 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 15 |
| |
5 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 13 |
| |
6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 20 | -7 | 10 |
| |
7 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 10 |
| |
8 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 9 |
| |
9 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 19 | -8 | 9 |
| |
10 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 | -8 | 8 |
| |
11 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 16 | -5 | 6 |
| |
12 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -6 | 6 |
|
Manager: Philippe Clement
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Stephen Robinson
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Manager: Philippe Clement
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Stephen Robinson
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Scottish Premiership
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Rangers have won 22 of their last 24 league meetings with St. Mirren (D2), including each of their last six in a row. Their last league defeat to the Buddies came in December 2011 (1-2).
In all competitions, St. Mirren have lost 22 of their last 24 away games at Rangers (D2) since a 1-0 victory in November 1991 under David Hay. They have lost their last 13 such trips in a row, failing to score in 10 of their last 11.
Rangers have won 17 of their last 19 home league games (D1 L1), including each of their last six in a row. Indeed, of their 16 points in the Scottish Premiership this season, 12 have come at Ibrox (75%).
St. Mirren have lost each of their last three league games, last losing four in a row in April 2022.
Although only Celtic (20.1) have a higher expected goals total in the Scottish Premiership this season than Rangers (13.8), the Gers have underperformed their xG the most of any side in the division this term (-1.8 – 12 goals from 13.8 xG).