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Playing with an unusually subdued underlying discontent, Rangers beat Premier League bottom side St Johnstone 3-1 at Ibrox.
New Light Blues chief executive Patrick Stewart offered his board’s support to head coach Philippe Clement on Saturday after the Belgians were further shattered by mounting pressure following Thursday night’s 1-1 draw with Dundee. their championship hopes.
The Rangers Supporters Association called for Clement to be sacked, while Rangers’ superfans group Alliance Bears launched a strike in the 55th minute, which paradoxically was met with disapproval by many remaining Gers supporters Loudly booed, they watched three goals in nine games. Hamza Igamane, Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diomande played a minute in the first half.
Saints defender Jack Saunders reduced the deficit in the 54th minute, with the home side’s performance marred by a lengthy silence in the stands.
Govan are 15 points behind leaders Celtic but the title will almost certainly remain at Parkhead.
How Rangers beat St Johnstone
Hamza Igamane and Mohamed Diomande both scored for Rangers
Clemente’s troubles have not been eased by injuries to several key players and his side are once again in a temporary situation.
Midfielder and stand-in captain Nicolas Raskin returned from suspension, Brazilian forward Danilo also returned, and 20-year-old defender Clinton Nsiala started his first game at Ibrox.
St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari has made five changes as he looks to secure a first win in nine games.
The 26-year-old goalkeeper Andy Fisher, on loan from Swansea City, made his debut, defender Aaron Essel and midfielder Fran Franczak And Max Kucheriavyi returns, as does forward Mackenzie Kirk.
The Gers faithful chattered and chatted while the usually raucous League One Bears remained silent, holding anti-board banners and singing “fire the board” chants, although the rest of the stadium wasn’t to any great extent. Get involved.
Soon after, in the 16th minute, Diomande received a pass from Cerny and cut the ball back. Igamane shot the ball into the Saints goal from 12 yards, scoring his 12th goal of the season.
The pitch soon returned to near-complete silence, but life came back to life when Cerny latched on to Danilo’s through ball and poked the ball past Fisher, his first since his loan spell at Wolfsburg. The 12th ball.
When Saunders inexplicably headed Cerny’s cross into the air, Diomande headed it perfectly past Fisher, and at the end some songs filled the stands, albeit briefly.
Igamane celebrates after Rangers took a first-half lead against St Johnstone
Cerny should have scored early in the second half, but Fisher easily collected a weak shot before the out-of-form visitors pulled one back.
Just before the United Bears set off, Saunders headed in a Kucheriawi corner kick, a moment that symbolized the club’s 55th and final title of 2021 and prompted boos from other supporters.
Fisher made a fine save from Gers defender Oscar Cortez’s powerful shot but Perth posed an equally big threat in sporadic attacks, with substitute Graham Carey Gers goalkeeper Liam Kelly’s shot was tested to the near post.
The final whistle sounded and the audience burst into applause. But Ibrox is now in uncertain times.
What managers say…
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Rangers manager Philippe Clement reacted to some fans walking out of Ibrox in the 55th minute in a pre-planned protest against the board
rangers boss Philippe Clement: “I hope everyone is united. It’s simple. You can think of it as a positive because there are still a lot of people supporting everything.
“But I wanted everyone to come together. So, that’s what I wanted when I came in last year, and that wasn’t the case at all.”
“But it’s about performance and that’s normal. We want stability, I want stability and the fans want stability to get better results. We are consistent in our home games.”
“I think we’ve got 31 points out of 33 now. We’ve been consistent in the European season but lacked consistency on the road. So, those are things that all teams need to work on.”
st johnstone boss Seamus Valakari On taking a break from a “disastrous” league position to face Motherwell in the Scottish Cup next week: “I want to get out of here fast. You can call me crazy but I know this club and this team Team, I can feel it starting to turn.
“There’s no better time this week than a cup game.
“In these seven days we don’t have to think about the catastrophic situation in the league. Now it’s the cup, no matter how bad we play in the league and no matter what happens.”
“This is the Scottish Cup and we have the same chance of winning as Rangers or any other team.”
