Rangers bat stuffy St Johnstone away as relentless Philippe Clement puts Celtic in his crosshairs – 3 talking points
dailyrecord.co.ukRelentless Rangers moved within touching distance of Celtic as they overcame a battling St Johnstone in a stuffy showing. It was back to reality for the Light Blues as the Saints arrived at Ibrox with a defensive game plan as Craig Levein harked back to his infamous Scotland tactic with the Perth outfit effectively playing without a striker - Diallang Jaiyesimi dropping into the midfield area as the veteran boss looked to frustrate the hosts fresh from their Viaplay Cup triumph.
But the tried and tested method would need a major rethink when substitute Cyriel Dessers took advantage of a mistimed clearance attempt from Oludare Olufunwa after a whipped ball in from James Tavernier to slip the ball through the legs of Dimitar Mitov.
And things went from bad to worse for as Jaiyesimi flew into a tackle on John Lundstram. The Perth attacker was initially shown a yellow card by Alan Muir - but VAR intervened to show the star a straight red.
It was an uphill battle for the visitors from that point but they dug in to frustrated the home side. Dessers appeared to be having a personal battle with with the St Johnstone number one - with the Nigeria international bringing a strong diving save out of the goalkeeper as he pushed the ball over the bar.
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