Bojan Miovski scored twice as Rangers closed the gap to the Scottish Premiership top two with a 3-0 win at Kilmarnock.
Rangers took the lead in the 33rd minute when the North Macedonia striker drove home, and he added a second in the 54th minute with a crisp finish from inside the box. The goals doubled Miovski’s tally for the Govan club since signing from Girona in the summer, and the travelling fans celebrated further when Spurs loanee Mikey Moore came off the bench to add a third in the 81st minute before having another effort ruled out.
Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell was sent off by referee Kevin Clancy in the 72nd minute, a frustrated night for the Ayrshire side who missed several chances. Rangers moved back into fourth place and to within six points of leaders Hearts and Celtic, who meet at Parkhead on Sunday.
Gers fans filled half the ground with flares before kick-off, and the game soon raced from end to end. In the eighth minute Connor Barron swung a free-kick into the box and Miovski’s header was saved by Kilmarnock goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi. At the other end Marcus Dackers headed against Jack Butland’s crossbar from Scott Tiffoney’s delivery, and Djeidi Gassama later fired over from 12 yards.
In the 18th minute Bruce Anderson raced clear and dinked the ball over Butland, but Barron cleared off the line amid an offside flag. Two minutes later 19-year-old Findlay Curtis replaced the injured Nedim Bajrami.
Miovski’s opener came as Rangers pressed Killie deep. After passing up a few early chances he collected the ball on the edge of the area amid several defenders and drilled it low past Oluwayemi for what was described as his third goal of the season.
Early in the second half there was a VAR check for a possible Kilmarnock penalty when David Watson was challenged by Mohamed Diomande on the edge of the area, but Clancy was not asked to review it on his pitchside monitor. Moments later Nicolas Raskin released Miovski and the former Aberdeen striker wrong-footed Oluwayemi with a confident finish from 12 yards.
Kilmarnock continued to threaten — Butland brilliantly pushed away a deflected Anderson shot and saved a header from captain Robbie Deas — and Watson headed wide just before Kettlewell’s dismissal.
Substitute Mikey Moore, fit again and one of several Rangers changes, drove at the Kilmarnock defence before curling a neat finish into the corner for the third. He thought he had another with a clever chip, but Clancy went to the monitor and ruled the goal out for an infringement by Emmanuel Fernandez on Watson in the build-up.