Rangers vs St. Johnstone. Scottish Premiership.
Ibrox StadiumAttendance46,931.
Report as Rangers beat 10-player St Johnstone to move to within two points of leaders Celtic; Cyriel Dessers scored 28th-minute opener with St Johnstone's Diallang Jaiyesimi sent off just five minutes later; James Tavernier hit late penalty to extend winning run to six matches
Thursday 21 December 2023 12:02, UK
Rangers moved to within two points of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic after a 2-0 home win over 10-player St Johnstone.
Cyriel Dessers' 28th-minute opener and James Tavernier's late penalty extended Rangers' winning run to six matches in all competitions.
St Johnstone's Diallang Jaiyesimi was sent off just five minutes after Dessers goal as the away side failed to have a shot on target and drop to ninth in the table.
Despite their numerical advantage, Rangers laboured to victory with Tavernier's 84th-minute spot-kick ensuring they kept up the pressure on Celtic, whom they have a game in hand on, with the Old Firm rivals meeting at Celtic Park on December 30, live on Sky Sports.
The victory over St Johnstone, meanwhile, maintains Rangers boss Philippe Clement's unbeaten record since taking charge in mid-October after guiding the club to Scottish League Cup success on Sunday.
The home side were forced into an early substitution as Keemar Roofe, making his first start since October 8, had to go off with the striker looking distraught, as Dessers came on.
The substitute had an immediate impact as Oludare Olufunwa missed a cross from Tavernier which allowed Dessers to finish low past goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov.
Almost straight from kick-off Jaiyesimi crunched John Lundstram but after initially being shown a yellow card by referee Alan Muir, VAR sent the official to the pitchside monitor and he upgraded the yellow to a red in the 33rd minute.
Lundstram managed to continue after Jaiyesimi's high boot but was eventually substituted at half-time, where Santa got cheered from the Rangers fans when he came out with the Scottish League Cup.
Rangers struggled to take full advantage of the sending off with Mitov making some decent saves from Sam Lammers, twice, and Dessers.
Sima missed the target with another effort in the 66th minute as Rangers frustration grew but their dominance was rewarded late on when Mitov clearly brought down Dessers inside the box for a penalty.
Rangers captain Tavernier then slammed the spot-kick low into the corner to secure the win and keep up the pressure on Celtic.
Rangers boss Philippe Clement claimed John Lundstram was "kicked off the pitch" and might now be a doubt for fixtures this side of the New Year, which includes the Old Firm game at Parkhead on December 30.
He said: "It's another player who is kicked off the pitch, so I am really frustrated with that. It's his ankle so we will see in the next couple of days what will happen.
"This for me is my main concern after the game - again a player kicked off the pitch. I'm not sure we can get him back before the winter break so that's not a good situation.
"I don't want to go in on emotions after the game, I am a little boiling so it's better to cool down and make opinions about leagues or whatever.
"But it clearly wasn't a good challenge with your studs forward like that. We had an even worse one later in the game when the guy luckily hit the ball and not my player (Dan Phillips on Kieran Dowell), the intensity there was to break a leg.
"Those things are not good for football."
St Johnstone say they have contacted Police Scotland after being made aware of a racist post on social media aimed at Jaiyesimi after his red card at Ibrox.
The club released a statement late on Wednesday condemning the "unacceptable" post on X, formerly known as Twitter, and saying they stand with the 25-year-old, who is currently on loan from Charlton.
The club statement said: "We are aware of a racist tweet circulating online that was aimed at Diallang Jaiyesimi tonight after his red card against Rangers.
"We firmly stand with DJ in this matter and are appalled that this unacceptable behaviour still exists in 2023.
"We will pass this onto Police Scotland to investigate.
"Say no to racism."
Sky Sports News has contacted Police Scotland for comment.
Rangers' next Scottish Premiership match is away to Motherwell on Sunday, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 12pm.
St Johnstone face Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday at 3pm.
