OPINION
Rangers made the most of St Mirren’s defensive errors to earn themselves a comfortable 4-0 win at Ibrox and keep pace in the hunt for the Premiership title on Saturday.
Referee Andrew Dallas was kept busy in Glasgow as he pointed to the spot a stunning four times, with three of those penalties finding the back of the net.
James Tavernier netted the first before hitting the bar with the second before making up for his miss by blasting the third down the middle.
Instead of taking the chance for his hat trick the defender and captain handed Jermain Defoe the ball four the fourth and the English striker hit home for his first goal at Ibrox before Ryan Kent finished off the scoring with an effort of his own.
So what can the Gers faithful take away from this game?
This is Futbol has picked out three things learned about Steven Gerrard’s men in their win in front of the home fans:
Gers make their own luck
Nearly everyone at Ibrox will have been rubbing their eyes when the fourth penalty was awarded the way of the Gers but aside from one they were hardly dubious decisions.
The home side forced the visitors to make mistake after mistake in the box and they were punished accordingly, with Tavernier and Defoe sharing the duties from the spot.
Not every game will go this way and the officials might view things differently in the future but it was not fortune which gave Gerrard’s men the chance to score.
Morelos and Defoe needs fine tuning
After struggling to get on each other’s wavelength in their first start together fans might have expected to have to wait a while before seeing Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe lead the line from the start again.
Instead Gerrard gave them their chance just weeks after the Englishman’s arrival and this time they looked much more comfortable alongside one another.
They linked well for the first goal and were a constant threat to the visitors – even if the Colombian was in one of his feisty moods.
There is still some work to be done but this should give fans faith the duo can work in tandem and put the opposition to the sword.
Kent and McCrorie undroppable
What a great performance it was from young duo Ryan Kent and Ross McCrorie, whose outstanding performances made the difference at both ends of the pitch.
Yes, the midfielder might have been hooked before the hour mark but that was down to an unlucky yellow card picked up and it is testament to how important he is to Gerrard that he was brought off to protect him for future games.
Kent meanwhile was a constant danger down the wing and picked up a well deserved goal to put the icing on the cake for the Ibrox faithful.