St Mirren 0-1 Rangers: Player ratings + talking points as sprinkling of Belgian brilliance settles tense affair
How we rated the Rangers players in their narrow 1-0 Scottish Premiership win over St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium in Paisley
Rangers are firmly back in the Scottish Premiership title equation as Tuur Rommens’ first-half goal settled a tense affair in chilling conditions against managerless St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium.
The Belgian defender tapped home at the back post from Nicolas Raskin’s superb cross after 31 minutes goal and his strike proved decisive as the visitors went on to spurn a number of chances to extend their lead.
Following a significant day of title race drama on Saturday, third-placed Rangers arrived in Paisley for this midday kick-off with the pressure firmly on their shoulders. The arithmetic was pretty straightforward. Defeats for Hearts and Motherwell presented Danny Rohl’s side with an opportunity to narrow the gap at the summit to just three points, while stretching their advantage over the Steelmen to seven.
Rohl made three alterations to his starting XI from the team that crashed out of the Scottish Cup at the quarter-final stage to Celtic a week ago. Captain James Tavernier, Tochi Chukwuani and Djeidi Gassama were drafted in from the outset, with Dujon Sterling, Mohamed Diomande and Andreas Skov Olsen making way.
The now-managerless Saints, who lost League Cup-winning boss Stephen Robinson to Aberdeen earlier in the week, had former Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield and under-19s head coach Craig McLeish in caretaker charge.
For Rangers, the need for Rohl to pick his side up from a dose of double Old Firm disappointment against city rivals Celtic and keep on the Jambos’ coattails was enormous. They simply had no room for manoeuvre against an opponent scrapping for their lives towards the foot of the table.
Searching for a first victory at the SMiSA Stadium after failing to come away with maximum points on their previous four visits, dark skies loomed above as both teams emerged from the tunnel on a blustery and bitterly cold afternoon. This was not a day for free-flowing attractive football, rather a hard slog in testing conditions. And so it proved.
Rangers, wearing their all orange fourth-choice kit, started well in the face of a strong, swirling wind and were creating plenty of overloads in the wide areas during the early exchanges. They forced a series of corners without seriously troubling Shamal George in the hosts’ goal.
The Buddies were struggling to get to grips with the conditions and were dealt a blow after just 15 minutes when they lost defender Jayden Richardson to a nasty head cut following an aerial collision with team-mate Alex Gogic in front of the home dugout.
The breakthrough eventually arrived after 31 minutes and it came from thew visitors’ first real chance of note. Nicolas Raskin clipped a delightful ball in behind St Mirren’s backline with his weaker left-foot for full-back Tuur Rommens to ghost in at the back post and steer it beyond the keeper from close range.
Conditions worsened as the first-half wore on with torrential rain and a bobbly pitch making it extremely challenging for both sets of players to put on much of a spectacle.
Saints had failed to muster up much of an attacking threat without first-choice strike pairing Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga. The closest the came to an equaliser was from a free-kick that centre-back Alex Gogic was unable to direct his header on target.
In truth, Rangers should’ve doubled their lead five minutes before the interval when Rommens received the ball short from a corner before sending a dangerous delivery into the box towards Youssef Chermiti, but the frontman could only side-foot wide of the post from just a couple of yards out amid a cluster of bodies. It was the definition of a sitter.
Rangers were dominating in terms of possession and control but only had Rommens goal to show for it. Defensively they were looking solid in a game that unsurprisingly lacked real quality.
The second half started in a similar manner with the Light Blues looking to press home their advantage. Moments after seeing an effort scrambled clear inside a crowded penalty area from Tavernier’s cross, Raskin had another sighting at goal but the midfielder’s header flashed narrowly wide.
On loan VfL Wolfsburg attacker Skov Olsen replaced Gassama as head coach Rohl opted to roll the dice. A couple of chances followed with Tavernier forcing George into an excellent diving save from a curling shot before Ryan Naderi headed straight at the keeper from the resulting corner.
For all St Mirren had struggled to test Jack Butland, Rangers remained in a vulnerable spot and susceptible to an equaliser as the home side enjoyed their best spell of territory with around 25 minutes remaining. Yet again, they hadn’t been able to translate their dominance into clear-cut chances.
Sensing a slight momentum shift, a concerned Rohl turned to his bench, this time bringing on Thelo Aasgaard and fit-again Connor Barron for his first appearance since January to replace Chukwuani and the ineffective Chermiti.
Mikey Moore then fizzed in a low effort that bounce awkwardly in front of George, who did well to clutch onto the ball with bodies closing in.
At the other end, substitute Jake Young broke clear before drilling wide from 15 yards as Saints tried to capitalise on their opponents inability to put the game to bed.
Rangers did have the ball in the net through Aasgaard after he latched onto Moore’s through ball in stoppage time, but the Norwegian international had strayed narrowly into an offside position and the goal was chalked off following a VAR check.
But Rangers had done had survived some late pressure and done just enough to clamber over the winning line. Three vital points in safe keeping at a venue where they have struggled at in the past and a result that moves them within striking distance of Hearts.
Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points and how the players fared:
Belgian brilliance as ever-impressive Rommens ends goal drought
Not only was the Belgian left-back’s opener his first goal since joining Rangers from Westerlo in January, it also marked just the third senior goal of the 22-year-old’s career and his first since 2024. The finish was relatively routine, but the pass from his compatriot Raskin was a thing of beauty.
Rommens has looked the part in recent weeks as he continues to settle into the team. He was one of only a few standouts on an afternoon that required a steely mentality to cope with such chilling conditions and an ability to grind out a result without being at your best.
Gassama fails to show glimpse of early-season form
It was no surprise when Gassama’s number flashed up on the fourth official’s board just shy of the hour mark. The former Sheffield Wednesday winger couldn’t seem to do anything right here.
Guilty of losing possession too often and appearing as though he hadn’t kicked a football in months, this was another day to forget for a player whose impressive early season form now seems a distant memory.
Rangers find a way to win ugly
It was far from impressive on the eye, but after drawing three of their past four league games, results are more important than performances at this stage of the season. Raskin and Rommens produced the one moment of magic when it mattered most to settle this contest
Rangers player ratings vs St Mirren
GK - Jack Butland (6/10)
RCB - Nasser Djiga (6/10)
LCB - Emmanuel Fernandez (6/10)
CM - Nicolas Raskin (7/10)
CM - Tochi Chukwuani (6/10)
CAM - Mikey Moore (6/10)
CAM- Djeidi Gassama (3/10)
CF - Ryan Naderi (4/10)
CF - Youssef Chermiti (3/10)