St Mirren 0-3 Rangers: James Tavernier hits brace to secure convincing victory and hand Steven Davis his first win as caretaker boss

• Rangers win first league fixture since Michael Beale was sacked last week
• Captain James Tavernier bagged a brace and Abdallah Sima also found the net 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’

Through the gloom of a lunchtime in Paisley the towering pylons of the SMISA Stadium offered Rangers a welcome shaft of light

How they overcame a St Mirren side stricken by a bad case of vertigo was always immaterial. Finding a way to win the game was all that mattered.

A day which started in third place in the Scottish Premiership, 10 points adrift of leaders Celtic, ended with respite and a smidgeon of hope heading into the international break.

The Rangers board will conduct a second round of interviews with managerial hopefuls in London early this week. By the time they face Hibernian at Ibrox in two weeks’ time, expect to have a replacement in place for Michael Beale.

Victory over a St Mirren side forced to play with ten men for an hour should fool no one. The size of the task facing the new man is substantial.

Steven Davis earned his first win as caretaker manager of Rangers with a 3-0 victory at St Mirren

Captain James Tavernier scored twice for Rangers to help them on the way to victory in Paisley

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High on the new manager’s in-box is a reconciliation with supporters. Before kick-off in Paisley two banners held aloft by the away fans outlined the scale of the disillusionment with the players.

‘Heartless, passionless, leaderless,’ read one. “Not fit to wear our colours,’ read the other.

An increasingly divisive figure captain James Tavernier, kept his critics at bay for another week. A goal from the penalty spot after a deliberate handball provoked a red card for St Mirren’s Ryan Strain was followed by a stunning strike in the 90th minute. After extensive criticism of the summer signings, meanwhile, Abdullah Sima’s fifth goal in six games suggests the on-loan Brighton striker is finding his feet.

Starting the day second in the Premiership, seven behind leaders Celtic, St Mirren felt the burden of history on their shoulders. In the last 20 meetings of these two clubs Rangers had won 18; their last defeat in Paisley coming on Christmas Eve 2011.

The latest meeting of the club’s followed a familiar pattern from the moment right-back Ryan Strain’s calamitous handball after 27 minutes gifted Rangers the opening goal from the penalty spot and triggered a VAR review with a predictable outcome.

Refusing to condemn Strain for a decision which effectively cost his side the game Stephen Robinson said: “People have to make decisions in the game. It’s just a reaction from him. It’s a poor decision – we know that – and the referee gets it 100 percent correct. I was miles away and thought at first it had hit a Rangers hand but obviously it didn’t. But it’s definitely a sending off.’

Tavernier swept his fifth goal of the season into the net from 12 yards, and hope much went the same way as second in the league. Playing a Rangers team with eleven men is hard enough; with ten the task became impossible.

Despite the efforts of Saints keeper Zach Hemming to keep the score down Sima made the points safe with his fifth goal in six games with 20 minutes to play. Tavernier’s stunning strike into the postage stamp corner in the dying seconds was a reminder that there’s more to his game than penalty kicks.

Rangers fans unveiled banners that read ‘Heartless. Passionless. Leaderless.’ before the game 

The visitors were awarded a first-half penalty when VAR intervened to penalise St.Mirren’s Ryan Strain for handball

Tavernier found the back of the net from the penalty spot to give Rangers the lead with his fifth goal of the season

In what looks likely to be his final game as interm coach, Steven Davis handed a first start to 17-year-old attacker Zak Lovelace on the right side of attack.

Replacing Cyriel Dessers, the teenager lasted 42 minutes before succumbing to a hamstring problem. He did enough in that time to suggest he’ll be back.

Approaching the half hour mark Lovelace collected the ball on the right flank and turned full-back Scott Tanser one way, then the other, before whipping a terrific ball across the face of goal.

Sima looked certain to turn it in until Strain stretched out his left arm to divert the ball away.

Referee Nick Walsh upset St Mirren during his last game at the SMISA Stadium, chalking off at least one legitimate goal in a win over Hearts. Referred to the pitchside monitor by VAR Steven Kirkland, a lengthy deliberation did nothing to improve his personal approval ratings in Paisley.

There could be no real argument with the decision. Pointing to the spot and flashed a straight red card at Strain even St Mirren boss Robinson could find no cause for complaint.

Tavernier’s spot kick swept the ball into the corner of the net despite Zach Hemming guessing the right way. A goal behind, down to ten men, St Mirren looked shellshocked and resigned to their fate. The silence of the home support suggested they’d seen this movie before.

Signed on loan from Championship Middlesbrough the 23-year-old Saints keeper produced two outstanding saves to prevent Rangers extending their lead.

Minutes after the goal Connor Goldson met a looping Tavernier corner with his head, a goal certain until Hemming stretched every sinew to tip the ball brilliantly over the crossbar.

The departure of the injured Lovelace followed a yellow card and an eventful first start.

His replacement, young Ross McCausland almost made an instant impact with an assist for the second goal. Deftly guiding an intelligent header into the path of Nicolas Raskin the Belgian looked destined to burst the net until Hemming made himself big. Another stunning block, St Mirren were clinging on by their fingertips as half-time came.

Left to forage up front on his own Olutoysi Olusanya had a thankless gig. Like a balloon slowly deflating, the energy and oxygen of the St Mirren support was slipping away.

Davis has stepped in as boss following the dismissal of Michael Beale as manager last week

Abdallah Sima also found the net to register his seventh goal of the season on loan from Brighton

A frustrating afternoon for Kemar Roofe ended in frustration after an hour. Making run after run the striker was starved of service. Even against ten men a one goal lead felt like a slender advantage. Benched from the start the unconvincing Dessers was pressed into the fray.

Rangers craved the comfort of a second goal, St Mirren craved a lifeline. Three changes from Stephen Robinson saw the introduction of Alex Greive and Mikael Mandron but didn’t have quite the desired impact.

St Mirren’s manager has yet to win his first league game against Rangers and any hope of changing the record ended when the visitors secured the killer goal with 19 minutes to play. A ball over the top offered Nico Raskin space to run in to. As St Mirren defenders inexplicably stood off the Belgian raised his head and spied Sima racing towards the back post. The Brighton loan player swept the pass from Raskin low into the net first time. He has now scored in his last four games.

Given two bites of the cherry from the edge of the area the third goal was another of the spectacular strikes Tavernier seems to specialise in. For Rangers even the small mercies are welcome during these testing times.

Match Facts

ST MIRREN(3-5-2): Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Strain, Baccus 4.5 (Boyd-Bunce 68), O’Hara, Tanser, Kiltie 4 (Greive 68) , Olusanya 4.5 (Mandron 68), McMenamin 4 (Nahmani 81).

Manager: Stephen Robinson x

Scorers:

Booked: McMenamin

Red Card: Strain

RANGERS (4-3-3): Butland ; Tavernier , Goldson , Souttar , Barisic ; Lundstram, Cifuentes 6 (Rice 89), Raskin ; Lovelace 4 (McCausland 42), Roofe 4 (Dessers 61), Sima 7 (Lammers 89)

Manager: Steve Davis

Scorers: Tavernier 30’pen, 90′ Sima 71′

Booked: Goldson, Lovelace

Referee: Nick Walsh

Att: 6984

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