St Mirren's unbeaten start to the cinch Premiership season came to an end after a 3-0 defeat to Rangers at The SMiSA Stadium.
There was little between the sides until a VAR call saw Saints reduced to 10 men midway through the first-half when Ryan Strain was shown a straight red card for a handball in the box. James Tavernier scored the resulting penalty for the visitors. Abdallah Sima added a second with less than 20 minutes of the match remaining before Tavernier rounded off the scoring in the final minute.
There was a minute's applause prior to kick-off as we paid our respects to our former striker Frank McDougall who sadly passed away last week at the age of 65.
St Mirren players applaud as we paid our respects to Frank McDougall (Image: Jeff Holmes)
Neither goalkeeper was tested in the opening 20 minutes with Rangers having more of the possession, but Saints were well-organised and looking to cause Rangers problems. The first real chance of the game came when a ball floated to the back post found Scott Tanser. But the left-back, who agreed a new Saints contract yesterday, didn't get the connection he would have wanted and stuck it wide.
Rangers' best chance came when Zak Lovelace played a dangerous looking ball across the face of goal which Sima failed to convert at the back post. The Rangers forward screamed for handball and when the ball went out of play, the game was stopped for a VAR check. The Buddies were dealt a double blow when Strain was given a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity with the handball and Rangers were awarded a penalty. James Tavernier knocked home from 12 yards to give his visitors the lead on 30 minutes.
Zach Hemming made a wonderful save four minutes later to deny the visitors the chance to double their advantage. The Saints number one was at full-stretch to push Connor Goldson's header over the bar. The Buddies stopper made another big save in the final moments of the first-half when he blocked Nicolas Raskin's strike.
There was still very little between the sides in the second-half despite Rangers having the man and goal advantage.
Saints made three changes to try and find a way back into the match with Caolan Boyd-Munce, Alex Greive and Mikael Mandron coming on to replace Keanu Baccus, Greg Kiltie and Toyosi Olusanya. But Rangers would seal their victory when they hit Saints on the counter and added a second three minutes after the changes. Raskin raced through to a ball over the top and rolled the ball across the box for Sima who fired into the low corner of the net.
Rangers substitute Cyriel Dessers had a chance to make the final scoreline more emphatic for the visitors when he broke clear on 85 minutes, but the forward shot straight at Hemming.
The visitors would add a third though with Tavernier scoring his second with a stunning strike from the edge of the area in the final minute of normal time.
Full-Time: St Mirren 0-3 Rangers
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Strain, Baccus (Boyd-Munce 68), O'Hara (c), Tanser, Kiltie (Greive 68), Olusanya (Mandron 68), McMenamin (Nahmani 81)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Bolton, Dunne, Small, Flynn
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic, Lundstram, Raskin, Cifuentes (Rice 90), Sima (Lammers 90), Roofe (Dessers 60), Lovelace (McCausland 41)
Subs Not Used: McCrorie, Ridvan, Sterling, Davies, McKinnon
Referee: Nick Walsh
Assistant Referee: David Roome
Assistant Referee: Dougie Potter
Fourth Official: Grant Irvine
VAR: Steven Kirkland
Attendance: 6,984
