A FIFTH successive league win under Giovanni van Bronckhorst was recorded by Rangers on Wednesday. Who retain a four-point lead at the summit of the Scottish Premiership.
The Dutchman’s 100% league record since being appointed has exceeded expectations. With Dundee United and St Mirren to visit Glasgow’s southside next, there is a real possibility that Rangers will head north to face Aberdeen having recorded seven straight wins under Van Bronckhorst.
Yesterday’s victory was straightforward in a sense. It always felt as though a win was forthcoming.
St Johnstone prop up the bottom of the division and remain in a poor run of form. Despite that, playing in a 5-4-1 they forced the home outfit to create space before they could craft chances.
The pressure they came under was consistent - it took Callum Davidson's men over an hour to take a shot on goal.
“Sometimes you have to invest in moving the ball around and making sure their energy levels will drop,” Van Bronckhorst said in explaining how his team eroded away the visitor's resolve.
Pass network
Three times in the opening 15 minutes at Ibrox, Ryan Kent beat Shaun Rooney from the left to test Zander Clark. His side's slightly lopsided approach, as seen by Aribo and Hagi's dovetailing above, allowed the winger to remain wide and maximise one-v-one battles.
The hosts second-half pass map features Fashion Sakala playing just as advanced. Showing it was a clear instruction.
St Johnstone tried to get Shaun Rooney high, Eetu Vertainen however struggled to connect with his team as the focal point.
Shot maps
The home side saw eight efforts blocked and often shot from questionable locations. Still, they were able to record a healthy cluster of shots from inside the box against a compact and low-sitting 5-4-1.
Alfredo Morelos opened the scoring just before the break. Peeling off at the back post from a corner.
The second goal arrived courtesy of Kent. By staying wide as his side counterattacked, he found himself free and in space to score.
St Johnstone's singular chance of note saw Jamie McCart head over. Profiting from disorganization in the opposition defence.
Pressure maps
Rangers attempted just 87 pressures. In a game where they made over 700 passes, time was rarely spent time organised in defensive banks.
The visiting side's 183 pressures were largely clustered down their left. Where, as explained above, overloads were created by the hosts before play was switched to the left.
As The Rangers Review wrote yesterday, this was the cause of the second goal.
Player in focus
Connor Goldson was second in the xGChain to only Morelos and helped to dictate the tempo throughout.
READ MORE: Connor Goldson’s Rangers ‘quarterback contributions’ have resigned ill-fated comments to history
The defender made 99 passes, but on this occasion, it was not his long-raking diagonals that caught the eye. Rather, his stepping into the midfield and playing through the lines proved so useful.
Conclusion
A 2-0 win was fair game based on Rangers' xG total. Some control was lost after the second was scored, which put to bed the prospect of a bigger winning margin.
The game-dependent tactical tweaks sanctioned by Van Bronckhorst is allowing Rangers to defeat varying challenges.
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