Pranav Shahaney

Sat 8 October 2022 16:59, UK Updated Sun 9 October 2022 1:49, UK

Rangers ran riot on Saturday afternoon in the SPFL as they beat St Mirren by a 4-0 scoreline to close the gap on Celtic after their win.

Antonio Colak was the star of the show as he bagged a brace with James Tavernier and Fashion Sakala scoring the other two goals.

After nine games, Gers are now second with 22 points – two behind leaders Celtic.

Here are our player ratings from the game:

Allan McGregor – 6

A clean sheet for the veteran goalkeeper who was called into action on a few occasions on Saturday. He only made three saves and kept his slate clean – something the manager would’ve called for.

James Tavernier – 9

A quality performance all around from the Rangers captain. The Englishman was solid going forward, was seldom caught of possession and slotted home the penalty calmly. A good outing from the Gers leader who would want to repeat this v Liverpool.

Connor Goldson – 7

A solid defensive effort from the evergreen centre-back for Rangers. Carried the ball out from defence confidently, won most of the duels and was terrific at keeping the attackers at bay. He’s really started the season well after all the exit speculation over the summer.

Ben Davies – 4

Looked shaky on numerous occasions and due to Goldson being there to cover up, was not exposed for some of his mistakes. He is still adapting to playing at a big club and these games will be good learning experiences for him.

Borna Barisic – 6

Lost possession a colossal 27 times all game and that was mainly due to him playing adventurous passes into the final third and the penalty area. He combined well with Rabbi Matondo and John Lundstram, but there were certain things he would’ve wanted done better.

Ryan Jack – 7

He started in a midfield role, but was dominant in the right half space, with Sakala moving to a more inside forward position. Jack was exceptional with his passes as he just misplaced four all game. He was also great at turning defence to attack as his long balls were nigh-on accurate on each occasion.

John Lundstram – 5

A high energy display from Lundstram who, along with running box-to-box played a key role in dictating the tempo of the game. He attempted a match-high 15 long balls and while he was relatively good, he did lose possession in midfield which led to St Mirren hitting Rangers on the counterattack. This carelessness will be punished by better teams.

Fashion Sakala – 8.5

He’s had poor games for the club of late, but this was the perfect response from Sakala to silence his critics. He rarely put a foot wrong and proved to be a menace down the right for Rangers. He registered an assist on the night and would’ve been gutted not to find the back of the net himself until he eventually did late on in the game.

Scott Arfield – 3

Had an awful game off the ball as he lost all of his attempted aerial duels and won just one out of five ground duels. His passing was also erratic as he registered a pass accuracy of under 80 per cent. We’ll be surprised if he starts v Liverpool.

Rabbi Matondo – 6

Had few spells in which he showcased his brilliance but failed to do it over the course of the 90 minutes. His crosses also rarely found their intended target and he would’ve done better if played on the other side.

Antonio Colak – 10

It’s rare that we hand anyone a perfect score, but the summer signing deserved it on Saturday. Not only did he score two goals, he also won the penalty that James Tavernier converted. Apart from that, he was a constant thorn in St Mirren’s side and deserved to go home with the match ball.

Substitutes

Ridvan Yilmaz – 4

Leon King – 4

Glen Kamara – 4

Ryan Kent – 3

Alfredo Morelos – 5

In other Rangers news, the club now had a record-breaking striker on trial at Ibrox and he’s gone on to make headlines in the United Kingdom.