Rangers thrash St Johnstone 4-0 to move within a point of Celtic
Rangers bounce back with 4-0 rout of St Johnstone
Rangers answered the frustration of dropping two points at Dundee last weekend with an emphatic 4-0 victory over St Johnstone at Ibrox, a result that drew them to within a point of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.
Derek McInnes had demanded a response from his players and they delivered, dominating from the outset. Apart from a brief wobble at the start of the second half when Saints threatened a comeback, Rangers were in complete control, and the scoreline flattered neither side.
Kevin Kelsy opened the scoring and went on to claim a brace, while Ryan Naderi contributed a goal and an assist. The pair's understanding — they combined for Kelsy's opener — justified McInnes' call to drop Djeidi Gassama to the bench and field two strikers in the continued absence of Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti.
Dominance reflected in the numbers
The match statistics underlined Rangers' grip on the game. Their expected goals stood at 4.57 compared with St Johnstone's 0.58. They registered 21 shots, nine of them on target, created eight big chances to the visitors' two, and forced 13 corners.
One notable milestone arrived from a set piece. With those 13 corners won, Rangers scored from one for the first time this season, as Kelsy tucked home his second goal after Emmanuel Fernandez's flick-on. "One of Rangers' main strengths from last season was set pieces," said former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "Rangers have had countless corners and wide free-kicks this season when it's not been James Tavernier delivering it. The standard of delivery this year has been really poor from set pieces. They've got Naderi, Kelsy, Fernandez, they've got giants to hit but the delivery for the most part hasn't been good enough. On the 11th corner today they finally scored. Talk about adding strings to their bow. They need to get back to the point where they are a real danger from set pieces."
'A positive 90 minutes'
"Rangers were excellent for a number of reasons," Halliday added. "I thought it was a positive 90 minutes as you can get. They created an abundance of chances. In the first half alone it should have been 4-0. It's always a positive when you come away with no injuries, your strikers are scoring goals again."
Ex-Rangers forward Peter Lovenkrands highlighted the value of the front two finding the net: "Goals and assists for a striker make such a big difference in the style of play and how you approach the whole game. You take shots, you are more confident with your touches, everything like that just gets better and better. This will do a world of good for Kelsy's confidence."
McInnes looks ahead to Tynecastle return
McInnes described the performance as "as good as we've been for a while" and turned attention to Wednesday night's Scottish Premiership trip to Hearts — his first return to Tynecastle since swapping Gorgie for Govan in the summer. "I had a brilliant time there and I know how difficult the fixture is for any opposition going to Tynecastle," McInnes said. "We were unbeaten all season last season at Hearts and they've a strong home record, so we're going to have to bring a big performance to go there and get a result. We're well aware of that but I think we're in good form. We are slowly but surely just chalking off wins and there's loads of positives. It's never a bad thing when your strikers score and you go to any game, any venue, believing that you can get a result. We expect it to be tough but equally we want to make sure it's a tough night for them as well."
The victory keeps Rangers within a point of Celtic at the top of the Premiership. St Johnstone goalkeeper Toby Steward was kept busy throughout, making a series of saves to limit the damage on a rain-swept evening in Glasgow.
Kelsy's double extended his personal return for the campaign; a FotMob snapshot dated 24 October 2026 had credited the Venezuelan with three Premiership goals from six appearances before this fixture.