Kilmarnock 0-3 Rangers: Player ratings + talking points as misfiring striker finally comes alive with 9/10 display
How we rated the Rangers players in their ruthless 3-0 Scottish Premiership win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park
Ruthless Rangers returned to winning ways in difficult conditions as Bojan Miovski’s double closed the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to six points with a comfortable 3-0 victory over struggling Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The misfiring North Macedonia international was still waiting to ignite his Gers career after making a slow start since arriving at Ibrox in a deal worth up to £4.2 million from La Liga outfit Girona last summer, much to the surprise of many Light Blues supporters given the impact he made during his first spell in Scotland.
However, the ex-Aberdeen striker came alive in Ayrshire by inflicting some serious damage on the hosts to offer a timely reminder of his predatory instincts and move Danny Rohl’s side within striking distance of pacesetters Celtic and Hearts.
Miovski opened the scoring after 33 minutes following a well-worked team move, which resulted in Mohamed Diomande displaying good strength in a crowded penalty area to fend off his marker before setting up his team-mate to stab a low effort into the bottom right-hand corner.
Despite their slender first-half advantage, Killie threatened at the opposite end on several occasions with Bruce Anderson going closest after being sent clean through on goal. However, his attempted lob over Jack Butland was hooked off the line by the covering Connor Barron.
Anderson had another snapshot on the turn flash narrowly wide of the target and the home side then had large appeals for a penalty turned down early in the second half when David Watson appeared to have his shirt pulled back by Diomande on the edge of the box.
A delayed VAR check was carried out before referee Kevin Clancy allowed play to continue.
And that moment proved decisive as Miovski effectively killed the game as a contest on 53 minutes by collecting Nico Raskin’s pass and shifting the ball on to his left foot before sweeping a low effort through the legs of Kilmarnock defender Dominic Thompson into the net.
Frustration boiled over on the touchline shortly after when Killie boss Kettlewell was shown a red card by Clancy for kicking a bottle out of his technical area after disagreeing with a decision made by the officials.
Kettlwell’s blood pressure will have reached boiling post in the 77th minute when the lively Anderson was wiped out by the onrushing Butland on the edge of the D, leaving the frontman in considerable pain. But after another VAR review, no further action was taken.
And the points were wrapped up by substitute Mikey Moore’s classy finish just three minutes later. The Tottenham Hotspur loanee turned away from his marker and drove forward into acres of space before steering a low shot past the outstretched keeper.
The win maintained Rohl’s unbeaten domestic record, but it was Miovski who took the acclaim of his team mates and the travelling support, less than 48 hours after deleting his social media accounts amid a barren run of form.
Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points and how the Rangers players fared:
Magnificent Miovski is the difference-maker
The Rangers fans were chanting his name for the first time in a long time and Bojan Miovski will hope to use his two-goal blitz as a catalyst to relaunch his career. The Ibrox faithful have had to wait a while to see their team unearth a clinical No.9 and he reminded those in attendance of the vast qualities he possesses with two superbly crafted finishes.
Big decisions go against Killie
While there were some positives for lowly Kilmarnock to take from this defeat, they were on the receiving end of some questionable decision-making from the officials.
Firstly, Diomande produced another moment of stupidity by hauling back Watson in the first-half, while goalkeeper Butland can count himself fortunate to have avoided being sent off for clattering into Anderson and failing to win the ball in the process after the break.
Tottenham loanee produces dazzling cameo
Rangers injury woes continued when Nedim Bajrami limped off after just 20 minutes with what seemed to be a hamstring problem. However, the introduction of fit-again Mikey Moore - making his first appearance in a month - will have been a welcome sight for the travelling support.
His late strike not only added a touch of gloss to the score line, but the quality of his turn and bending finish was hugely impressive and an example of what Rangers have been lacking in the final third of late.
The Spurs youngster was unfortunate to see another excellent finish ruled out for a foul moments later on yet another sublime cameo display.
Rangers player ratings vs Kilmarnock
GK - Jack Butland (6/10)
RCB - Nasser Djiga (4/10)
LCB - Emmanuel Fernandez (5/10)
CM - Nicolas Raskin (7/10)
CM - Connor Barron (8/10)
CAM - Mohamed Diomande (6/10)
RW- Djeidi Gassama (7/10)
LW - Nedim Bajrami (4/10)
CF - Bojan Miovski (9/10)