Rangers made sure they'll head to Parkhead next weekend three points behind in the title race after coming from behind to defeat Kilmarnock at Ibrox.

Philippe Clement's men gifted the Ayrshire side an early opener when James Tavernier put into his own net from a Matty Kennedy header. Joe Wright saw red moments later for handball after a lengthy VAR check but Tavernier's resultant spot-kick was saved by Will Dennis.

Fabio Silva drew Rangers level in first-half stoppage time before Ben Davies, Tom Lawrence and John Souttar made sure of the three points.

Another defensive calamity

Just as he was for Celtic's bizarre opener a few weeks ago, James Tavernier was culpable for Kimarnock breaking the deadlock early on. He lost Matty Kennedy at the back post from a looping cross and his resultant header was chested into his own net by the Rangers skipper. Before the ball was crossed, Borna Barisic and Fabio Silva didn't do enough to prevent the ball being played into the box. It was yet another cheap goal to lose and put Rangers on the back foot after a bright start. Quite simply, defending like this will only result in one outcome across the city next Saturday and it's not worth thinking about.

Lack of creativity and firepower

Rangers started the afternoon six points and eight goals behind their arch-rivals. Philippe Clement's side had to rack up a healthy scoreline to eat into the goal difference. In the end, they reduced the deficit by three but, in truth, this team is incapable of killing teams off. It took until a Fabio Silva first-half stoppage time equaliser to get on the scoresheet against an opponent reduced to ten early on. In the second half, Dessers failed to get shots away on a number of occasions, instead taking one too many touches that resulted in Kilmarnock closing down the angle.

Victory at Parkhead is essential if the Premiership trophy is to return to Ibrox but it's highly unlikely they'll score more goals than the team from across the city. That is why the only hope of winning the title is beating Celtic, Dundee and Hearts and hope Brendan Rodgers' team slip up at Rugby Park or at home to St Mirren on the final day.

Fabio Silva and Tom Lawrence stepping up

The Portuguese forward has flattered to deceive for much of his time at Ibrox but he did well to level matters in first-half stoppage time with a neat finish. His subsequent celebration was a tad strange right enough as he appeared to make a statement towards the Ibrox crowd but the goal seemed to breathe confidence into the Wolves loanee. If he scores a decisive goal at Parkhead and beyond then he can celebrate however he likes but we need more moments of quality from him.

Tom Lawrence is another who has struggled for form of late but he produced a stunning moment of magic to double Rangers' advantage on 71 minutes after coming off the bench. The former Derby man checked onto his right which sent two Kilmarnock players for hotdogs in the fan zone before curling an effort past the despairing Dennis. He also had a major role in the fourth goal after his stinging shot was parried before Souttar nodded home.

More injury concerns

Ben Davies made his first-team return at the break at the expense of Leon Balogun who was replaced due to a back complaint. It was precautionary more than anything else but with Connor Goldson already out for the season with a knee injury then it will be a concern going forward. Davies has been somewhat of a forgotten man at Ibrox but he slotted into the backline well and showed great anticipation to prod home Rangers' second goal after reacting to a fumble from Dennis after a John Lundstram strike. He also moved to his natural left-hand side which meant John Souttar could play in his more natural right-hand side. Could that be the central defensive pairing next week?

Borna Barisic was replaced late on with the Croatian holding his hamstring but the welcome return of Ridvan Yilmaz will certainly boost spirits ahead of the Celtic game. The Turk has been a huge miss and one of a number of reasons Rangers are playing catch-up in the title race.

VAR delays

Philippe Clement said in his pre-match press conference that he was pro-VAR but the technology needs improving and the first half of this game showed there is still plenty of work to do to bring it up to speed. We had several lengthy delays to check a potential Corrie Ndaba handball in the opening exchanges, a Cyriel Dessers offside and the Joe Wright handball and subsequent red card. 

The right outcome was reached on all incidents by David Dickinson but the time it took is simply too long which led to an extra eight minutes being added on at the end of the half.