Goals from Hamza Igamane, Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diomande inside the opening 25 minutes put Rangers well on course for just their second win in six games against bottom-of-the-table Saints. But an ultras group still followed through with their pre-match plans to leave with 35 minutes remaining after the club's new CEO Patrick Stewart said on Saturday he would not be sacking under-fire manager Clement.

Despite the win, Rangers remain 15 points behind runaway leaders Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership with their Glasgow rivals on course for a fourth consecutive title. On the field, Clement's men did at least give the home fans something to cheer with a blistering start. Igamane prodded in his 12th goal in 13 games from Cerny's cut-back to break the deadlock.

Cerny raced on to a Danilo through ball to make it 2-0 before Diomande pounced on an error from Jack Sanders to head in the third. St. Johnstone are now nine points adrift at the bottom of the table and Sanders' header early in the second half was nothing but a consolation. That goal arrived just as some Rangers fans headed for the exit, but the protest showed a clear split in the support with those leaving booed by the majority inside Ibrox.

"You can see it as a positive that still a lot of people are behind everything," said Clement. "But I want to have everybody united. That's what I wanted last year when I came in, and it was also totally not the case at that moment. But it has to do with performance, and that's normal. We want consistency, I want consistency, and fans want consistency to get better results."

Rangers do at least look increasingly likely to secure second place as Aberdeen's winless run continued with a 0-0 draw at home to Hearts. Ross Doohan salvaged a point for the Dons in stoppage time by saving Jorge Grant's penalty. But Aberdeen are now fourth, two points behind Dundee United and nine adrift of Rangers. After taking 31 from the first possible 33 points in the league under Jimmy Thelin, Aberdeen have won just four from the last 33 available. Hearts remain second from bottom in the relegation playoff place but edge to within one point of safety.

January 12, 2025

M. Diomandé

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