IT would be stretching things somewhat to suggest we have a meaningful title race on our hands in the Ladbrokes Premiership this season.
Nevertheless, this comfortable Rangers win over St. Johnstone, which reduced the lead Celtic hold at the top of the table to six points for the second time in the space of four days, certainly makes things rather interesting.
It would be a considerable surprise, despite the points they have dropped at home to St Johnstone, Hibs, Kilmarnock and Rangers in recent months, if the defending champions and league leaders fail to beat Dundee at Parkhead this evening and forge nine ahead once more.
Yet, their city rivals, who avenged the loss they suffered at the hands of St Johnstone at Ibrox back in December with considerable ease, are applying pressure and forcing them to perform with the impressive form they are currently displaying.
This emphatic 4-1 victory, achieved courtesy of a James Tavernier penalty and Josh Windass and Sean Goss goals in the first-half and an Alfredo Morelos header in the second, saw Rangers extend their winning run to five games. It is the first time they have enjoyed such a streak of form since they were in the Championship two years ago.
This fine display was certainly an indication of how much Rangers have progressed under Graeme Murty since they strengthened significantly during the January transfer window. They could have no complaints about the loss they suffered on the last occasion they met their opponents at the end of last year. But on this occasion they dominated totally.
Goss, who joined on loan from Queens Park Rangers last month, once again impressed greatly in central midfield as did Greg Docherty, who was signed on a permanent transfer from Hamilton, alongside him.
The third Glasgow derby match of the 2017/18 campaign will be held at Ibrox on Sunday week and Rangers, who were unlucky not to win their previous meeting with Celtic at Parkhead in December, will go into it with confidence high.
Murty made just one change to the side which performed so well in the 2-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox at the weekend and that was inury-enforced. Declan John, who had suffered a groin strain, dropped out and was replaced at left back by Andy Halliday.
Tommy Wright, meanwhile, made four alterations to the St. Johnstone team that overcame Ross County 2-0 at McDiarmid Park – their first win at home in five months - on Saturday.
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Chris Millar, Steve McLean, David Wotherspoon and Scott Tanser all dropped out and Matty Willock, Liam Craig, Aaron Comrie and George Williams came in.
But the home team failed to pick up where they left off. They fell behind early on after conceding a penalty and failed to recover. Goss floated a delightful diagonal ball to the edge of the St Johnstone penalty box in the 12th minute. Morelos got on the end of it and skipped past Alan Mannus only for the goalkeeper to bring him down.
Mannus was fortunate only to be yellow carded by referee Steven McLean for his blatant foul on the striker. Tavernier accepted responsibility for the spot kick in and calmly stroked it into the bottom right corner.
Windass added to his side’s tally13 minutes later following a neat interchange between Daniel Candeias and Docherty. It was his 16th goal of the season and temporarily drew him level with his team mate Morelos in the scoring charts.
Goss, the former Manchester United youth who has performed with startling maturity despite his lack of experience in senior football, added a third four minutes before half-time.
St. Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson had conceded a free-kick on the edge of his area with a foul on Rangers winger Jamie Murphy. Goss curled a perfectly-weighted effort over the defensive wall and into the bottom right corner.
Rangers continued to control proceedings in the second half and Morelos got in on the goals in the 56th minute when he flicked a sublime glancing header past Mannus from an acute angle after being supplied by Tavernier.
The prolific Columbian has been the subject of several failed bids from Beijing Renhe in recent weeks and his club will be hoping no more multi-million pound offers come in for him before the Chinese transfer window closes today.
That the Glasgow club remain a work in progress was evident five minutes after Morelos netted when St Johnstone bagged a consolation goal at a corner. Jason Kerr rose unchallenged to nod a Liam Craig delivery beyond Wes Foderingham into the net. Defensively, they can still switch off at times.
But when Bruno Alves, the Portugal centre half who has been out with a calf injury since the Celtic game in December, made his comeback in the 78th minute as Murphy hobbled off it capped a good evening for Rangers.
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