Rangers 2-0 St Mirren extras: Ghostly rendition of Waka Waka, groans for one man in Ibrox

The key points from Ibrox as Rangers go into winter break six points clear in title race ...
Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara delivered a classy and assured performance as he dictated play during their Boxing Day win over St Mirren at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara delivered a classy and assured performance as he dictated play during their Boxing Day win over St Mirren at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara delivered a classy and assured performance as he dictated play during their Boxing Day win over St Mirren at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Player of the match

A game in which Rangers enjoyed almost 80 per cent of possession was made to measure for Glen Kamara.

The Finnish international midfielder was able to dictate the tempo and direction of play for much of the afternoon and is clearly relishing the more central position he has generally been deployed in since Giovanni van Bronckhorst became manager.

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Apart from a couple of slack moments in the closing stages, by which time the points were safe, Kamara was outstanding and just shaded his captain James Tavernier as the most influential performer in the home ranks.

Letdown

The dominant nature of Rangers’ display was certainly not reflected in the final scoreline as they had only the first half goals from Scott Wright and Alfredo Morelos to show for their efforts.

It wasn’t simply nit-picking on the part of van Bronckhorst to point that out. While St Mirren goalkeeper Jak Alnwick had a fine afternoon, the wastefulness of so much of Rangers’ finishing will be an issue the manager looks to address on the training pitch during the winter break.

Turning point

St Mirren’s hopes of mounting another successful rearguard action after their 0-0 draw against Celtic were dashed by their sloppiness at the corner kick from which the diminutive Wright was able to head in Rangers’ early opener.

Ref watch

Even with just 500 fans inside Ibrox, there were still groans aplenty to be heard at some of referee Steven McLean’s decisions.

St Mirren midfielder Ethan Erhahon was perhaps fortunate only to be booked for a high challenge on Tavernier and McLean also made a couple of odd calls when he decided to overrule his assistants when they seemed to be better positioned.

But he got it right by opting only for yellow cards for both Rangers defender Connor Goldson and St Mirren captain Joe Shaughnessy when they fouled Curtis Main and Wright respectively just outside the penalty area.

Gave us a giggle

A largely empty Ibrox was a sobering experience as the miserable new Covid restrictions kicked in. But as Fashion Sakala came on as a second half sub for Rangers, even a handful of punters managed to raise a smile with their rendition of Shakira’s Waka Waka song they have adapted in his honour.

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