JOE ARIBO reckons an early goal was the key to Rangers' victory over Livingston as Giovanni van Bronckhorst earned all three points on his Premiership debut.

The champions followed up on their Europa League win at home to Sparta Prague with a deserved triumph on the road against David Martindale's side.

Scott Arfield opened the scoring after just eight minutes before Aribo doubled the advantage shortly afterwards to seemingly make sure of the points.

And those quickfire strikes would ultimately prove crucial for Rangers as Van Bronckhorst's side battled their way to a deserved Premiership win.

Bruce Anderson pulled one back for the hosts before Fashion Sakala won it late on with a powerful header from James Tavernier's corner.

But it was Aribo's effort that was the pick of the bunch from Rangers as he curled home a lovely strike from the edge of the area to round off a clinical attacking move.

Aribo said: "It was a tough game and the boys knew they'd have to dig deep. I'm just happy we were able to get the result and the three points.

"It was vital [to have a fast start]. In football matches you need to start fast and to score goals first.

"That makes the game easier and so we knew it was important to get that first goal.

"We needed to kill the game off and to give them no chance of staying in the game, so that goal was vital for us.

"Some of the players have been giving me stick, saying it was a it of a loopy strike but I'm happy it went in and I was excited by it. I definitely meant it!"