Rangers notched up their first win in the Scottish Premiership against St Mirren at Ibrox, after they were held to a draw by Aberdeen on the opening day of the Premiership season. Alfredo Morelos opened the scoring for the Gers in the 14th minute, which was doubled by a fantastic header from Connor Goldson in the 24th minute.
Steven Gerrard’s team dominated the proceedings from the word go and kept the lion’s share of the possession of the ball. A red card shown to Ross McCrorie in the 31st minute saw the Gers being reduced to 10 men but that did not seem to be a problem for Gerrard’s men as they went onto clinch three points with a clinical performance on the night.
The ratings for the Rangers players are as follows.
Allan Mcgregor: 8
A solid display from the veteran shot-stopper saw him keep a clean sheet, the first one for him this season.
Borna Barisic: 7
Was defensively very sound and helped keep the St Mirren attackers at bay throughout the match in what was his debut game. It was his inch-perfect delivery that saw Goldson score his first and Rangers’ second goal of the game.
Connor Goldson: 9
A brilliant outing for the centre-back as he held the backline together to keep them out of harm’s way. Scored the all-important second goal to seal the win.
Nikola Katic: 8
Another confident display as he partnered Goldson to ensure that nothing went past them.
Jon Flanagan: 6
A good outing for the former Liverpool man as he kept his composure on the pitch and helped his side to a win.
Lassana Coulibaly: 7
Was solid in his positioning as the defensive screen and played his part properly in the middle of the pitch.
Ross McCrorie: 4
The match ended prematurely for him as he picked up a red card for a mistimed tackle right in front of the box on St Mirren’s Nicolai Brock-Madsen in the 31st minute.
Ovie Ejaria: 7
Looked sharp right from the beginning. Made a number of good runs with the ball and threaded some well-timed passes as well.
Jamie Murphy: 7
Initiated attacks on the opposing defence with his witty through balls. Turned provider for Alfredo Morelos in the 14th minute, who opened the scoring for the Gers.
Ryan Kent: 6
A decent outing for the young Englishman. Looked sharp on occasions but need to work on developing his game further.
Alfredo Morelos: 8
Played the perfect striker’s role and slotted it past the St Mirren goalkeeper to notch up his first goal of the season.
Substitutes
James Tavernier: 3
Came on in the 62nd minute for Barisic and played his part to ensure a win for his team.
Andy Halliday: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
Umar Sadiq: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
