Rangers ace earns redemption - but spare thought for Ianis Hagi and Steve Clarke after 'welcome'

It might be arguable whether it is an acceptable slot in which to schedule top-level professional football, but Vaclav Cerny was glad to take the opportunity to earn some redemption on a late Sabbath’s evening.

The winger scored twice, either side of half-time, to keep Rangers ticking over domestically and make up for his ‘Peter van Vossen’ moment against Lyon on Thursday. However, spare a thought for Ianis Hagi, who might have wished he had delayed his comeback until after the international break. The substitute's return lasted barely 35 minutes before he was sent off for clipping Benji Kimpioka with a high boot. Lack of match practice rather than malice accounted for this unfortunate turn of events with ten minutes left.

Otherwise, any sympathy goes out to the 150 or so St Johnstone fans who attended despite the unsociable kick-off time of 8pm. They were left with an extreme case of the Sunday night blues. Not only did they have work in the morning, but their team have not scored against Rangers in their last five league meetings, which is a record for this fixture. The Perth side remain second bottom of the league.

Vaclav Cerny was on target twice for Rangers. | SNS Group

New manager Simo Valakari has it all to do. He was glad to have taken a back seat here. The Finn was in the directors’ box as Cerny curled in to put Rangers in front. He then watched the same player put the home side two in front 13 minutes into the second half following an assist from Hagi, who was received like a returning hero before making such an ignominious exit.

Steve Clarke was present, which was news that delighted the Union Bears, who treated him to a song or two. In town for Scotland squad preparations, there were few reasons other than convenience to draw him here.

A total of just four Scots were in the starting XIs. Clarke already knows all about John Souttar, who was excellent. The Scotland manager might have been more interested in St Johnstone’s former Scotland Under-21 ‘keeper Ross Sinclair following reports Angus Gunn could be struggling to be fit for the games against Croatia and Portugal after coming off at half time for Norwich City on Saturday.

But these are not Phillipe Clement’s worries. The Rangers manager has his own. He made two changes to the team pulled apart by Lyon on Thursday, with Connor Barron, someone Clarke no doubt wanted to see, dropped to the bench. The midfielder replaced Mohamed Diomade at half time.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke was in attendance at Ibrox. | SNS Group

Clement had explained that he didn’t want Barron “burned alive”, which one presumes was a reference to the amount of action he has seen already this season rather than the fireworks from the Copland Stand that arced over the heads of the players on Thursday.

There was nothing so incendiary here. The novel kick-off time, to accommodate the Great Scottish Run, helped douse a lot of the fire and certainly affected the crowd size. Michael Mols was a more welcome guest compared to Clarke. The former striker conducted the half time Union Jackpot draw. Another popular presence was Hagi, who returned to the Rangers matchday squad for the first time since August 2023 after reaching agreement over a contract issue. He replaced Ross McCausland at half time.

Rangers were already one up thanks to Cerny but not exactly cruising. The frisky Kimpioka had caused Souttar some early problems as the visitors looked in the mood initially. Cerny, meanwhile, was applauded as he ran to retrieve the ball at a corner, which must have been music to his ears given the criticism meted out to him after his open goal miss against Lyon.

Ianis Hagi was red-carded for this challenge on Benji Kimpioka. | SNS Group

It’s amazing what a little encouragement can do. Within half an hour he had opened the scoring with a lovely finish into the far corner after he had been fed by Diomande. There was still plenty for the winger to do. He beat Sven Sprangler with ease before steering the ball past Sinclair. His teammates all ran to celebrate with him. They clearly understood what it meant to a player who has hardly hit the ground running at Ibrox.

Interim St Johnstone manager Andy Kirk brought on Adama Sidibeh alongside Kimpioka in the second half. The hosts probably needed the comfort of a second goal. It came after 58 minutes, with Cerny actually pilloried initially for turning back towards his own goal rather than running at the St Johnstone defence. He had it all under control, however. By the time the ball was delivered back to him from Hagi he had taken up good position inside the box. A dip of the shoulder took him past Lewis Neilson and he squeezed a shot into the far corner.