St Johnstone ending a winless Premiership run at Ibrox was always going to be a highly improbable early Christmas present for Perth fans.
Even following up their last away draw against Motherwell with another point on the road was an unlikely scenario given the hot form of their opponents.
The fact that Saints have been much improved themselves in recent weeks gave some hope that one of the above was possible.
But a two-minute nightmare just before the half-hour mark took away nearly all of the jeopardy for Rangers.
First Cyriel Dessers broke the deadlock and then seconds after Saints’ centre, DJ Jaiyesmi was sent off for an off the ground tackle that is a bread and butter VAR red these days.
In the grand scheme of things, this result shouldn’t halt the McDiarmid Park club’s upward momentum, however.
That it was a one-goal game until James Tavernier’s 85th minute penalty, and Rangers fans were getting increasingly anxious, was an achievement of sorts.
Both teams were coming off a big win at the weekend – Rangers lifting the League Cup at Aberdeen’s expense and Saints getting the better of Hibs in the league.
And both managers made several changes on the back of those fixtures.
For Philippe Clement it was five and Craig Levein, three.
In came Dare Olufunwa, Andy Considine and Sven Sprangler for Ryan McGowan, Tony Gallacher and Graham Carey, all of whom were on the bench.
The pattern of play was set pretty much from the first whistle but Saints did a good job of keeping Rangers at a safe distance from Dimitar Mitov’s goal for all the hosts’ territorial dominance.
There was next to nothing for the Bulgarian international to do in the early stages, with Andy Considine throwing himself in front of a Kemar Roofe shot typifying the visitors’ ‘thou shalt not pass’ commitment.
Roofe had to come off with an injury shortly after that 15th minute effort and was replaced by Dessers.
It wasn’t until 27 minutes that there was a hint of penalty box panic when there was a scramble to mop up a John Souttar back post shot from a Tavernier corner.
Opening goal
From being quite comfortable though, Saints were a goal and a man down in what, in football terms, was the blink of an eye.
Dessers put Rangers in front when he cashed in on Olufunwa misjudging the flight of a Tavernier cross.
Then, seconds after the re-start, Jaiyesimi threw himself into a tackle on John Lundstram that was deemed at first by referee, Alan Muir to be worthy only of a yellow card but was upgraded to red after VAR intervention.
If ever you wanted to see a prime example of a ‘striker’s challenge’, chasing a poor touch, this was it.
Levein responded by sending Chris Kane on for Sprangler.
Saints made it into half-time just one behind thanks to a couple of good Mitov saves, low to either side, but a second half comeback was a real long shot.
Rangers v Mitov
It became a story of the Rangers attack v Mitov, with the Saints goalie getting the better of things for a while.
Two saves from Sam Lammers and one to deny Dessers were all top class.
Saints still being within a goal as the game reached its final 20 minutes was an achievement in itself and at that point Levein made a triple substitution.
McGowan, Carey and Dara Costelloe all came on.
For a moment it looked like a Mitov long ball might put Costelloe through on goal but the bounce took it just too far ahead of him.
With Saints starting to think there could be a point to be won here, Dessers was brought down by Mitov on 83 minutes and Tavernier converted the subsequent penalty.
Player ratings
St Johnstone – Mitov 7.5, Considine 7, Gordon 7, Jaiyesimi 4, Kucheriavyi 6, Olufunwa 5.5 (McGowan, 72), Robinson 7, Smith 7 (Costelloe, 72), Sprangler 6 (Kane, 35) Phillips 7 (Carey, 72), Franczak 6 (Gallacher, 60). Subs not used – May, Clark, Turner-Cooke, Richards.
Saints’ star man – Dimitar Mitov.
It says a lot about the Perth side’s improvement that Mitov hasn’t been the man of the match for a while but he showcased his full repertoire against an Old Firm team once more.
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