Rangers maintained their 16-point advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership with an 11th straight league win at St Johnstone.
Kemar Roofe poked in Rangers’ opener after Zander Clark had palmed away Ianis Hagi’s strike and Glen Kamara’s tidy finish doubled the visitors’ advantage before the break.
Hagi blasted a shot through Clark for Rangers’ third in the second half, before St Johnstone substitute Michael O’Halloran was sent off for two bookings late on.
The former Rangers winger was cautioned twice inside three minutes and was on the park for just six minutes in total.
And a third straight league loss leaves Callum Davidson’s St Johnstone 10th in the division, above Hamilton Academical on goal difference.
St Johnstone’s Murray Davidson and Kamara were unsuccessful with early efforts before Rangers went in front.
Kamara squared for Hagi to shoot and Roofe was on hand to convert after the Clark block. A quick check from the striker that he was not offside confirmed he had scored for the 11th time this season.
Finland international Kamara was the beneficiary moments later as he glided on to Joe Aribo’s perfectly timed pass in behind the Perth defence and nudged the ball home with the outside of his right foot.
There was no let up from Steven Gerrard’s side in the second half with Hagi thundering the ball under Clark after Roofe’s shot had been blocked.
Substitute Stevie May almost pulled one back for the hosts when he got goal-side of the Rangers defence but Allan McGregor would not be beaten.
Amid a series of substitutions, O’Halloran came on for Danny McNamara and was quickly booked for a foul on Roofe’s replacement Alfredo Morelos. And the winger saw red after a rash challenge on Borna Barisic met with the same punishment.
Morelos slipped a shot wide soon after but Rangers’ work was done.
Man of the match – Glen Kamara
What did we learn?
St Johnstone did not do much wrong before falling behind but could not find an answer after Rangers started scoring. May and Ali McCann came on at half-time but were barely on the park two minutes when Hagi struck Rangers’ third.
One of Rangers’ strengths this season has been the amount of different scorers and Kamara became the club’s 14th scorer in the league.
Hagi has had a largely frustrating first half of the season but certainly staked his claim for more game time with a hand in two of the goals.
Gerrard’s men were clinical in both boxes with their defensive prowess registering a 21st clean sheet in all competitions this term.
What did they say?
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson: “We limited them to very few chances. It’s a throw-in and we deal with it all wrong. Six minutes later, we’re 2-0 down and it’s an uphill struggle. We conceded right after half-time. And that’s it, game’s over.
“I’m really disappointed with Michael O’Halloran. It was reckless going into that challenge already being booked. Just stay on your feet.”
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard: “We really stood up to the physicality of St Johnstone. They are a well organised team, they are right up for it and compete well, so we had to first and foremost match that and at the right times we were very clinical and showed our quality.
“We’re very pleased with the run we’re on in the league. With 19 games gone, to return 53 points is a really good effort from the players.”
What’s next?
Rangers are involved in the first Premiership match on Boxing Day, at home to Hibernian (12:30 GMT), before St Johnstone take on hosts Aberdeen later on Saturday (15:00).
Player of the match
RoofeKemar Roofe
St Johnstone
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Squad number15Player nameMcNamara
Average rating5.00
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Squad number6Player nameGordon
Average rating4.93
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Squad number19Player nameRooney
Average rating4.90
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Squad number4Player nameMcCart
Average rating4.86
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Squad number9Player nameKane
Average rating4.86
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Squad number13Player nameBryson
Average rating4.84
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Squad number10Player nameWotherspoon
Average rating4.81
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Squad number24Player nameBooth
Average rating4.78
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Squad number8Player nameDavidson
Average rating4.77
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Squad number7Player nameConway
Average rating4.73
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Squad number1Player nameClark
Average rating4.70
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Squad number14Player nameMay
Average rating4.58
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Squad number18Player nameMcCann
Average rating4.53
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Squad number26Player nameCraig
Average rating4.06
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Squad number17Player nameMelamed
Average rating4.02
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Squad number11Player nameO’Halloran
Average rating3.50
Rangers
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Squad number25Player nameRoofe
Average rating7.99
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Squad number18Player nameKamara
Average rating7.83
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Squad number17Player nameAribo
Average rating7.74
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Squad number7Player nameHagi
Average rating7.71
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Squad number2Player nameTavernier
Average rating7.56
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Squad number14Player nameKent
Average rating7.55
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Squad number10Player nameDavis
Average rating7.54
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Squad number31Player nameBarisic
Average rating7.53
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Squad number6Player nameGoldson
Average rating7.48
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Squad number1Player nameMcGregor
Average rating7.37
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Squad number5Player nameHelander
Average rating7.27
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Squad number11Player nameItten
Average rating7.10
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Squad number15Player nameZungu
Average rating7.08
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Squad number20Player nameMorelos
Average rating7.05
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Squad number37Player nameArfield
Average rating6.89
Line-ups
St Johnstone
- 1Clark
- 19Rooney
- 6Gordon
- 4McCart
- 15McNamaraSubstituted forO’Halloranat 77′minutesBooked at 83mins
- 13BrysonSubstituted forCraigat 82′minutes
- 8DavidsonSubstituted forMcCannat 45′minutes
- 24Booth
- 7ConwaySubstituted forMayat 45′minutes
- 10WotherspoonBooked at 60mins
- 9KaneSubstituted forMelamedat 82′minutes
Substitutes
- 11O’Halloran
- 12Parish
- 14May
- 17Melamed
- 18McCann
- 22Hendry
- 26Craig
- 46Ferguson
Rangers
- 1McGregor
- 2Tavernier
- 6Goldson
- 5Helander
- 31Barisic
- 17Aribo
- 10DavisSubstituted forZunguat 77′minutes
- 18Kamara
- 7HagiSubstituted forIttenat 82′minutes
- 25RoofeSubstituted forMorelosat 64′minutes
- 14KentSubstituted forArfieldat 82′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Bassey
- 9Defoe
- 11Itten
- 15Zungu
- 16Patterson
- 20Morelos
- 26Balogun
- 33McLaughlin
- 37Arfield
- Referee:
- Nick Walsh
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, St. Johnstone 0, Rangers 3.
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Second Half ends, St. Johnstone 0, Rangers 3.
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Foul by Filip Helander (Rangers).
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David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Stevie May.
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Attempt blocked. Bongani Zungu (Rangers) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked. Assisted by Borna Barisic with a cross.
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Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Jamie McCart.
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Attempt missed. Liam Craig (St. Johnstone) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Liam Gordon following a set piece situation.
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Foul by Scott Arfield (Rangers).
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David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Attempt missed. Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left.
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Second yellow card to Michael O’Halloran (St. Johnstone) for a bad foul.
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Borna Barisic (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Michael O’Halloran (St. Johnstone).
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Substitution, St. Johnstone. Liam Craig replaces Craig Bryson.
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Substitution, St. Johnstone. Guy Melamed replaces Christopher Kane.
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Substitution, Rangers. Scott Arfield replaces Ryan Kent.
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Substitution, Rangers. Cedric Itten replaces Ianis Hagi.
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Michael O’Halloran (St. Johnstone) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.