Rangers edged to within two points of Celtic at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League yesterday, but they had to rely on Kilmarnock twice shooting themselves in the foot as the champions turned in an entirely unimpressive performance. Rangers could point to a highly dubious equalising penalty for Kilmarnock, but they required an unfortunate Tim Clancy own goal three minutes from the end to prevent two valuable points from being dropped.
Walter Smith’s side shrugged off a sluggish first-half display to take the lead through a neat finish from El Hadji Diouf after William Gros, the Kilmarnock youngster, had given the ball away, before Jamie Hamill levelled matters from the penalty spot after Richard Foster was harshly penalised for a challenge on Clancy in the box. Then came that Kilmarnock calamity at the end.
But in the circumstances, after a tiring midweek trip to the Netherlands to claim a goalless draw away to PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie, Smith could just be relieved that his side narrowed the gap at the top, no matter the quality of the display.
Kilmarnock have improved in leaps and bounds this season and they came so close to a point even without Alexei Eremenko, Mehdi Taouil, Frazer Wright and Cammy Bell.
Kyle Lafferty, the Rangers striker, knew it wouldn’t be an easy afternoon. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, but this result brings us closer to Celtic,” he said. “This keeps our confidence up. We just have to worry not about Celtic, but about how we do.”
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Kilmarnock certainly started as the better side and almost took advantage of a particularly lethargic Rangers. They forced a couple of early corners and David Silva went close with a curled effort that floated wide. Kilmarnock came even closer in the sixteenth minute when Gary Hay’s deep cross was met by Liam Kelly in an alarming (for Rangers, anyway) amount of space in the box, only for the midfield player to balloon the ball over the bar.
Rangers’ response was for Kyle Bartley to meet a Diouf corner and his header was tipped over by Anssi Jaakkola in the Kilmarnock goal. Diouf came even closer when he reacted quickest to a deflected Steven Davis free kick, but he should have done much better than push the ball wide. But at least Rangers were showing signs of awakening from their early slumbers.
Midway through the first half , no one could have been more relieved than Manuel Pascali, the Kilmarnock captain, when he turned Madjid Bougherra’s cross from the right towards his own goal from point-blank range. It was incredibly fortunate for the Italian and Kilmarnock that the ball went straight at Jaakkola. It was a warning Kilmarnock would not heed later on.
Rangers made the breakthrough seven minutes from the interval, but it was entirely Kilmarnock’s own making. The Ayrshire side were looking to counter-attack and played the ball up to their lone striker, Gros. But the Reunion Islands youngster inexplicably played the ball inside to Steven Whittaker, the Rangers midfield player, who burst clear to tee up Diouf. The on-loan Blackburn Rovers striker took a touch before steadying himself to drill a low shot into the net — his first Premier League goal.
Rangers matched their tired first half start going into the second period and they were to get a nasty shock on the hour mark when Kilmarnock grabbed the equaliser in highly controversial style. Clancy was challenged by Foster at the edge of the Rangers penalty area with perhaps a slightly high boot, but Ibrox was stunned when the referee, Alan Muir, pointed to the spot. It seemed a very harsh decision given that no Kilmarnock players really appealed for the award.
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Hamill wasn’t bothered, though, as he expertly tucked away the penalty.
At least for Rangers, it had the desired effect of waking up the sleepy natives, who were outraged at the decision and were even more unimpressed when Muir did not give them a penalty of their own soon after when Nikica Jelavic went down in the box. What had been a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll in the park for Rangers turned into a frantic search for a winner.
And they got it with three minutes left and again it was Kilmarnock’s own fault. Vladimir Weiss, a Rangers substitute, teased Hamill on the left wing and his cross was turned into his own net by the sliding Clancy. The defender then had another claim for a penalty denied at the death when he tussled with Lafferty, but Rangers held on — just.
Rangers (3-5-2): A McGregor 6 — D Weir 7, M Bougherra 7, K Bartley 6 — R Foster 5 (sub: V Weiss, 76min 4), S Whittaker 6, M Edu 5, S Davis 6, S Papac 6 — E H Diouf 7 (sub: K Lafferty, 75), N Jelavic 6. Substitutes not used: N Alexander, J Fleck, D Healy, G Wylde, K Hutton. Booked: Foster, Papac, Jelavic.
Kilmarnock (4-5-1): A Jaakkola 6 — J Hamill 7, M Sissoko 7 (sub: W Aubameyang, 89), M Pascali 7, T Clancy 7 — C Bryson 6, J Fowler 6, L Kelly 6, G Hay 7, D Silva 7 — W Gros 4 (sub: R Miguel, 61 5). Substitutes not used: K Letheren, B Berntsson, K Agard, B Laurent, R McKenzie. Booked: Hay, Pascali.