Rangers 6 Kilmarnock 0
Whatever questions he faces from supporters and shareholders at today’s AGM, Philippe Clement will have far more credit in the bank when he addresses the floor at the Clyde Auditorium.
Over the course of the past week, the Rangers manager has led his team to a thumping 4-1 win away in Nice which puts them on the brink of reaching the Europa League knockout stage.
And a 1-0 victory away at St Johnstone at the weekend was then followed last night by a comprehensive dismantling of Kilmarnock at Ibrox.
Scoring six goals in a stylish display of attacking football, this was Rangers’ most dynamic domestic performance of the season.
There was a fluency to the team in attack, helped once again by the brilliance of Hamza Igamane, the Moroccan who is rapidly emerging as Rangers’ most important player in forward areas.
Striker Hamza Igamane celebrates after scoring to make it 3-0 to Rangers
Igamane fires home the third goal as Rangers put Killie to the sword at Ibrox
Rangers’ emphatic victory eases the pressure on manager Philippe Clement
James Tavernier got the rout under way in the first half when he scored his first league goal of the season.
From that moment, the sense of confidence in the Rangers team was clear. Their football flowed in a way it hasn’t done at pretty much any point this season.
More goals followed from Danilo, Igamane and Vaclav Cerny before two from substitute Cyriel Dessers as Killie were blown away.
Clement is not out of the woods just yet. With two games against Celtic on the horizon over the next few weeks, one of which being a cup final, there could yet be some major speedbumps on the road.
But the prospect of the Rangers manager being grilled at a fiery AGM today now seems far less likely than it would have done a week ago.
Clement has found some shelter from the storm — and just in the nick of time. His team turned on the style last night and it came not a moment too soon for the previously under-fire manager.
After the win at St Johnstone last Sunday, Clement had demanded more goals from his team and expressed a desire to see a ‘sexier’ brand of football.
This wasn’t a bad response from the players. Rangers certainly found their six appeal.
Danilo celebrates his goal, Rangers’ second, with captain James Tavernier
Clement made three changes from the 1-0 win at St Johnstone in what was a fairly attacking line-up. Danilo came in to make his first league start of the season, with Igamane also keeping his place in the line-up after his fine run of recent form.
Mohamed Diomande and Leon Balogun also came into the side, with Connor Barron and Robin Propper dropping to the bench.
Barron had been due a rest due to the sheer volume of games he has played, whilst Propper’s demotion was reflective of his poor form.
Killie, meanwhile, arrived at Ibrox out of sorts. With three defeats and a draw in their last four games, Derek McInnes’ side had slid down the table.
However, they did beat Rangers 1-0 at Rugby Park back in October and they knew they would have to replicate that kind of performance in order to pose a threat last night.
McInnes also made three changes, with Danny Armstrong, David Watson and Oliver Bainbridge coming into the team from last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Dundee.
The torrential downpours witnessed across Glasgow yesterday afternoon made for an extremely slick playing surface by the time kick-off arrived.
Igamane was heavily involved in much of Rangers’ best play in the early exchanges, twice firing just wide of the target in the opening ten minutes.
Dessers clips the ball beyond Killie goalkeeper Robby McCrorie for Rangers’ fifth
James Tavernier got the ball rolling at Ibrox by knocking in Rangers’ first goal
From a corner kick on 15 minutes, Igamane also flicked the ball on towards John Souttar at the back post.
It looked for all the world that Souttar would burst the net. But, unmarked inside the six-yard box, he ballooned his effort well over the crossbar.
Danilo was operating primarily as the central striker, with Igamane playing out wide and Ianis Hagi playing in behind in the No 10 role. But there was a fluidity to Rangers, with Danilo and Igamane frequently interchanging and switching positions.
Given the one-way direction of traffic, the only real surprise was that the opening goal didn’t arrive until eight minutes before half-time.
Hagi was the architect, firing a wicked inswinging cross towards the back post. Tavernier snuck round the back of Bainbridge and dispatched the ball high into the net.
Bombing forward from right-back and getting into a scoring position, it was vintage Tavernier, in many respects.
Having been rotated out of the team over the past month or so, the Rangers captain spoke earlier this week about how he is far from finished at Ibrox.
Still with 18 months left on his contract, Tavernier is determined to nail down a regular starting spot again, particularly with loan signing Nana Kasanwirjo likely to miss the rest of the season after knee surgery.
Killie were threatening from set-plays, with Watson’s delivery consistently on the money and allowing them to attack the ball.
But, shortly after half-time, two goals in little more than 60 seconds killed the game and put it beyond the visitors.
Hagi claimed his second assist of the night when he drilled a low ball across the face of goal, with Danilo converting past Robby McCrorie for 2-0.
Before Killie had a chance to catch their breath, Igamane then scored the best goal of the night when he thumped a brilliant finish low into the bottom corner from just outside the box.
Following on from his fine performance in the 4-1 win in Nice last week, Igamane has been a breath of fresh air.
He was once again Rangers’ best player last night, leaving the field to a standing ovation shortly after the hour.
It was 4-0 by that point, with Cerny drilling a low finish into the bottom corner after good play from Nico Raskin.
Having come off the bench as part of a triple substitution, Cyriel Dessers got on the end of a cross from Jefte to poke home and take the scoreline to 5-0.
Still with 20 minutes left to play, Rangers were turning on the style. Killie, meanwhile, could barely get out of their own half.
Dessers helped himself to a second when he steered Tavernier’s cross into the bottom corner for 6-0 on 77 minutes.
The only slight downside to the night for Rangers was the fact that Celtic struck a late winner at Aberdeen to stay well clear at the top of the Premiership table.
But even that couldn’t take the shine off what had been a thoroughly impressive night’s work for Clement and his players.
