Colak double bursts St Mirren's bubble

Rangers avoided a potential banana skin on Saturday as they brushed aside an in-form St Mirren in front of the Ibrox faithful. Giovanni van Bronckhorst made five changes to the side that were easily dispatched by English giants Liverpool on Tuesday, the most notable of which being star man Ryan Kent dropping to the bench. Whilst the manager may have had one eye on the huge Champions League tie against Liverpool this coming Wednesday and decided to rest the winger, few Rangers fans would have had any qualms with Kent being absent from the starting eleven based on recent form, with many of the opinion that he is flattering to deceive this season. In his place started Rabbi Matondo who, despite being left out midweek, returned to the starting lineup after an impressive cameo against Hearts last weekend. 

Colak celebrating his early opener

Van Bronckhorst's men got off to an uncharacteristically fast start when, just four minutes into the match, Borna Barisic unleashed a low drive from 25 yards out which rebounded off the post and was bundled in by goal machine Antonio Colak. A quiet first ha
lf ensued, with Tavernier and Jack forcing saves from St Mirren shot stopper Trevor Carson the only action of note for much of the half. That was until the 30th minute when, not for the first time of the afternoon, Colak was sharpest in the St Mirren box. A trademark Tavernier cross was whipped into the danger area and it was the Croatian who reacted quickest, getting a toe to the ball before the defender, who could do nothing but bring him down. Penalty to Rangers. Up stepped captain Tavernier who, to the surprise of no one in the ground, cooly dispatched the spot kick to put the Gers 2-0 up at the break. 

The second half continued much the same as the first. Rangers controlled the ball, patiently waiting to carve out an opening, but created little. Matondo came close with a terrific long range effort which whistled past Carson only to strike the post before Allan McGregor produced a fine stop from the visitors first real chance to keep his side two in front. The long awaited third goal finally came from who else but that man Colak. Fashion Sakala beat two men with some silky footwork before driving from the halfway line at the heart of the St Mirren defence and slipping in the Rangers number nine. Many may have expected the striker to fire a first time shot towards goal, the kind we have become accustomed to this season, and it appeared Declan Gallagher was one of the many. The St Mirren defender was left on his backside as Colak feigned to shoot before cutting inside the hopeless Gallagher and curling a stunning finish into the far corner with the outside of his boot for his tenth of the season. Sakala finished off the game by netting the goal his enthusiastic performance probably deserved. Late substitute Alfredo Morelos played in the Zambian who slotted Rangers 4th in injury time. All eyes now on Wednesday night for what is shaping up to be another historic night under the Ibrox lights.