Rangers 5 Kilmarnock 1: Danny Rohl’s facet shut the hole on Hearts to 3 factors… however they had been made to work for it in opposition to 10-man Killie

Just a few miles along the road in Paisley, the door had opened for Rangers when Premiership leaders Hearts slipped to defeat against St Mirren on Tuesday night.

With an opportunity to close the gap on their title rivals to just three points, the expectation was that Rangers would take full advantage at home against a Kilmarnock side who are embroiled in a relegation battle.

All the more so when Killie lost a man in the early stages, playing almost the entire duration of the 90 minutes with ten men following the dismissal of defender Dom Thompson.

But, good grief, did Danny Rohl’s side make hard work of it. For the best part of an hour, Rangers looked nervy and unconvincing.

They led through an early penalty from James Tavernier, before totally losing their way in the middle part of the match.

Indeed, Rangers had to wait until the final 30 minutes before finally overpowering Killie, scoring four more times through Bojan Miovski, Andreas Skov Olsen, Oliver Antman and the outstanding Mikey Moore.

Was it free-flowing or in any way convincing? Most certainly not. But it moves Rohl’s side to within three points of Hearts having played the same amount of games.

This is as close as Rangers have been to the top of the table since the start of the season. They also gave their goal difference a much-needed boost.

On the back of such an insipid display in the 0-0 draw away at Hibs last Sunday, Rohl shook things up and made five changes to his team.

Out went Manny Fernandez, Youssef Chermiti, Dujon Sterling, Tochi Chukwuani and Skov Olsen, with Tavernier, Nasser Djiga, Mohamed Diomande, Miovski and Moore coming in to freshen it up.

After signing on deadline day from Hansa Rostock for a fee in excess of £4million, new German striker Ryan Naderi started on the bench.

Following such a dismal run of form over recent weeks and months, Kilmarnock finally showed signs of life last weekend when they hammered Aberdeen 3-0 at Rugby Park.

Boss Neil McCann named the same team which had been so impressive in that emphatic victory but Killie’s night got off to a truly dreadful start as, with only four minutes on the clock, they found themselves a goal and a man down.

Moore weaved and jinked his way inside from the left wing, before sliding a piercing through ball into the path of Gassama. He was in on goal, only to be hauled down by Killie defender Thompson. It was a clear red card, with Tavernier stepping up to tuck the penalty beyond Kelle Roos.

Only moments later, Diomande went close to doubling Rangers’ lead as he took aim from just outside the box and fired a low shot narrowly wide of the post.

In the space of the opening 10 minutes, Rangers had shown more urgency and attacking threat than they had managed over the full 90 at Easter Road only a few days previously.

Despite being down to ten men, Kilmarnock had a great chance to equalise on 17 minutes when Greg Kiltie broke away down the right and picked out Bruce Anderson in the middle, only for him to drag wide when he really ought to have tested Jack Butland.

When Rangers exited the Europa League in Porto last week, Moore admitted that his end product needed to improve.

The Tottenham loanee, who is still only 18 years old, has had some excellent moments since moving to Glasgow, albeit mixed with the inconsistency that is to be expected of such a young player.

But his movement and close control were excellent last night. He was the architect behind most of Rangers’ best moments, albeit he was a one-man band far too often.

There was a period midway through the first half when the home side lost their way. Their tempo slowed, passes went astray, and the crowd grew anxious.

For all Kilmarnock were a man down, the one-goal deficit was far from comfortable for Rangers, especially with the visitors having a couple of decent efforts from distance.

A key part of Rangers’ problems was the fact they had nothing at the top end of the pitch. Miovski and Thelo Aasgaard, the No 9 and No 10 in Rohl’s system, were passengers. Their contribution was abysmal.

Despite starting the game so well, Rangers actually left the field at half-time to a smattering of boos. The home fans knew this was a chance Rohl’s side couldn’t pass up.

Rangers squandered several more chances at the start of the second half, most notably when Aasgaard opted to try and square the ball to Miovski when he had a clear sight at goal.

Miovski was having a shocker and Aasgaard really wasn’t far behind him. Both players were lucky they hadn’t been taken off at half-time.

But, with Ibrox growing increasingly agitated, it was Miovski who finally gave Rangers a bit of breathing space when he fired a low finish into the bottom corner for 2-0 from a Diomande lay-off.

Credit where it’s due, it was a very tidy finish. But Miovski’s overall performance and contribution in open play was poor.

Naderi came off the bench to make his debut for the final half-hour alongside Skov Olsen and as Rohl looked to inject some fresh energy in attack. Belgian left-back Tuur Rommens also got his first taste of action.

Killie had put up an excellent fight. It was far from a backs-to-the-wall job. McCann will rue that Anderson chance in the first half, but will surely take heart from his team’s spirit.

Skov Olsen scored his first Rangers goal when he clipped a composed finish high into the net. He looked far better and Rohl’s subs certainly made a big impact.

The visitors notched a late consolation when Kiltie pounced on a blunder from Butland, only for Antman and Moore to add a little more gloss to the evening for Rangers.

Job done, but scorelines do not always offer a true reflection of a team’s performance, and this was very much a case in point.