The rain did not stop, but neither did Rangers. On a sodden night in Ayrshire, Philippe Clement’s side proved as incessant as the downpours, putting behind them a woeful first half to maintain their position at the Premiership summit.
Kilmarnock were brilliant in that opening period — all sharp passing, aggressive pressing and defensive nous. Rangers were behind — to a penalty from the outstanding Danny Armstrong — but dug deep into their reserves of resolve to turn things around after the break.
They were rarely comfortable, and rarely all that elegant either, but the Ibrox side roll on. This felt like another significant moment in the title race, a night when they put one boot on the banana skin but retained their footing.
Derek McInnes’s side thought they should have had a second spot-kick late on when Nicolas Raskin, one of the visiting substitutes, ran into Liam Donnelly from behind but the officials were unmoved — the right call, as replays showed.
Rangers have been something close to a juggernaut these past few months, but of all the pitstops they have left between now and May, few will have as many warning lights flashing as was the case here.
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Only four times in their 12 most recent visits to Rugby Park had the Ibrox side gone back up the M77 with full points, while Kilmarnock have registered two wins and a draw against Celtic this season, with Rangers being the only team to have beaten them in the past three months.
The visiting team were straight into their stride, twice coming close to an opener in the first six minutes. The first chance arrived when Ross McCausland flashed a dangerous low ball across goal from the right. Fábio Silva’s connection wasn’t the cleanest, but still required Lewis Mayo, the retreating defender, to deflect it behind.
From the corner, Connor Goldson sent in a bullet header that would have been a certain goal had it been placed either side of the goalkeeper Will Dennis.
Kilmarnock have learnt not to be knocked off their stride in these games, however, and they quickly regrouped to take the lead. Donnelly had already whistled a near-post header marginally past when the hosts were awarded a free kick deep in enemy territory as the returning Borna Barisic went down under the slightest pressure from Armstrong and fell on to the ball hands-first.
When the free kick was worked to the same Kilmarnock player, his cross thudded into the outstretched arm of John Lundstram for the most obvious of penalties as the Rangers midfielder jumped to clear.
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Armstrong held his nerve to slot the ball straight down the middle as the travelling fans behind that same goal began to wonder how their side’s rediscovered mettle might stand up to this rare challenge. Not for the first time, and certainly not on this kind of stage, Armstrong’s whipped deliveries were causing all manner of issues, but Rangers came close to a quickfire equaliser when Óscar Cortés bent in a shot that Dennis had to stretch to divert past the post.
Armstrong’s joy was Barisic’s discomfort, the Croatian left back looking painfully out of touch in both a defensive and attacking sense. Kilmarnock, by contrast, were full of energy and intent from back to front, rarely allowing Rangers to settle into any kind of rhythm. Barisic hauling down Armstrong for the first booking not long after the half-hour mark was the game in microcosm at that stage. Polworth felt that Mohamed Diomande should have been penalised for a tug at his arm as he pounced on slack tending of possession by the Rangers midfielder and attempted to close down the onrushing Jack Butland. The referee, David Dickinson, was having none of it.
Neither, in his own way, was Clement, who withdrew Barisic at the break and sent on Ridvan Yilmaz instead. Also making way was Silva, with Cyriel Dessers introduced in an effort to give Rangers some kind of focal point.
It was Kilmarnock who threatened first, though, with Matty Kennedy’s low effort being brilliantly saved by Butland. Quite how much that save will be worth in the longer term remains to be seen, but in the here and now it meant that when Tavernier drilled home a 25-yard free kick moments later, Rangers were no longer behind.
The award had come when Mayo took out Tom Lawrence, and the hitherto excellent Dennis will wonder why he started so far to the right of his goal as the Rangers captain stepped up. Dennis got across to touch the ball with his left hand but the power proved too much for him.
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The momentum was suddenly with the away team — good fortune, too, as the ball broke kindly for Lawrence off Corrie Ndaba shortly afterwards and the Welshman stroked a glorious finish across Dennis and in.
The goal had been all about Lawrence from the start, as the former Derby County man combined smartly with Cortés and Dessers on the left before bursting into the box in search of exactly the sort of scrap that Ndaba duly served up. Rangers fans piled on to the pitch in gleeful celebration, and their side could have been out of sight when Dessers clipped a Tavernier corner on to the woodwork.
There was a late VAR check for a potential Rangers penalty for handball, but Clement and his charges had already come through one close examination.
Clement praises ‘resilience and mentality’ of his side
Philippe Clement hailed his Rangers team for having managed to keep their footing at the top of the Premiership — after watching them threaten to slip up on a sodden plastic pitch in Kilmarnock.
The Ibrox side had to come from behind in the second half at Rugby Park after a dreadful display in an opening period dominated by Derek McInnes’s hosts, for whom Danny Armstrong scored a penalty.
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Clement praised the “resilience, mentality, solidarity and the quality to adapt” to challenging circumstances, having been less than impressed early on.
“We started the game well with a good set piece from which we could have scored — but they saved it on the line. Had we gone in front it’s a totally different game. But then after ten minutes you get this penalty against you, which was a frustrating moment because the score goes against you,” the Belgian said.
“You then have an opponent who sits back and waits for your mistakes to make counterattacks and to be dangerous. And our tempo was too slow in the first half. We needed some time to adapt because it was a totally different kind of football.
“At moments I felt my players were like Bambi on ice. They had to adapt to that and we spoke about it at half-time. After that they were great. We were massive in every sense, the resilience, the tempo, the fighting spirit. This is a major win.”
Jack Butland, the Rangers goalkeeper, made a terrific save from Matty Kennedy when Kilmarnock were still in front, but Clement was minded to focus on the collective afterwards.
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“This is not a group of players anymore who stop or quit or become nervous or become islands. They stick together, they fight hard and they show quality. They were two quality goals and there were several good attacks also. It is very important.”
While Kilmarnock’s penalty was awarded for a handball by John Lundstram, Clement was frustrated that his own side did not receive a spot-kick late on when a Scott Wright cross appeared to strike the arm of Lewis Mayo. The incident was reviewed by VAR.
“I want to hear the reason why they give the first penalty and the second not. That’s really not clear for me,” Clement said. “So we go back to the story about handballs. I hope you guys can explain something about that because it was a really weird situation again for me.”
McInnes — whose team have already beaten Celtic twice and Rangers once this season — was heartened by their overall efforts.
“We got our goal and we probably could have scored another in that first half. We spoke at half-time about the importance of getting that next goal and we started like a train in that second half. But the game comes down to moments,” he said.
“In terms of performance there was nothing between us and Rangers tonight. But Jack Butland’s save at 1-0 just confirms how good he is. That was a huge moment for Rangers in the context of the game.”
Kilmarnock (4-4-2): W Dennis 7 — J Wright 6, L Mayo 6, S Findlay 6, C Ndaba 6 — D Armstrong 8 (R McKenzie 83min), L Polworth 7 (D Watson 83min), L Donnelly 7 (J Balagizi 83), M Kennedy 6 — K Vassell 6 (K van Veen 75), M Watkins 6 (G Stewart 75). Booked Mayo, Findlay, Watson.
Rangers (4-2-3-1): J Butland 8 — J Tavernier 7, C Goldson 7, J Souttar 7, B Barisic 3 (R Yilmaz 46, 6) — J Lundstram 6, M Diomande 6 — R McCausland 6 (D Sterling 55, 7), T Lawrence 8 (N Raskin 75), O Cortes 6 (S Wright 70) — F Silva 6 (C Dessers 46, 6). Booked Barisic, Goldson.
Referee D Dickinson. Attendance 9,576.
