Rangers chip away at Celtic's lead

Rangers 3 Kilmarnock 0

Rangers finally began to chip away at Celtic’s lead at the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League with a 3-0 win over Kilmarnock.

The victory at Ibrox means the Hoops now sit 13 points clear at the summit following their draw at Hibernian.

It was almost the perfect day for Rangers.

Goals from Charlie Adam, Kris Boyd and Dado Prso secured a third consecutive SPL win to allow them to reclaim second spot on goal difference from Aberdeen.

And the victory came just days after a draw in Auxerre secured their place in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.

The only cloud on the horizon was the news filtering through from Easter Road that rivals Celtic had fought back from two goals down to snatch a draw against Hibs.

However, with three Old Firm games still to be contested by a Gers team which is finally coming together, could manager Paul Le Guen dare to dream?

The Ibrox boss was forced to make one change following the trip to France after the ever-present Steven Smith suffered a back problem.

He was replaced at left-back by Sasa Papac, while striker Gary Wales took the place of the suspended Colin Nish for Killie.

The first chance of the game fell to Prso eight yards out but there was too much power behind the shot and he blasted over.

Prso then turned provider when he collected a Jeremy Clement ball before passing to the feet of Nacho Novo but the striker failed to connect properly and his weak drive was off target.

Kilmarnock had a decent chance when Wales whipped a dangerous ball into the box and Danny Invincibile sent the header fizzing just wide.

But only the heroics of goalkeeper Graeme Smith at the other end kept the scoreline level when he blocked Prso’s point-blank shot.

Rangers were rewarded for their hard work when they surged into the lead after 22 minutes.

Adam pounced on a Prso lay-off before choosing his spot and sending a thunderous 25-yard drive into the back of the net.

The midfielder could have grabbed a second goal almost immediately but his cheeky chip fell just wide of the post.

Gers did not have to wait too long to double their advantage, however, and were celebrating again just five minutes later.

This time Novo’s effort produced a decent save from Smith but he knocked the ball straight into the path of Boyd, who gratefully fired home at the far post.

Killie made a change at the break, replacing Wales with Simon Ford.

And the defender had an immediate impact on the game when his attempt to block a Novo effort almost ended up in the back of his own net.

Boyd then drew gasps from the home crowd when his opportunistic 25-yarder fell just inches over the crossbar.

The forward was content to act as provider for Rangers’ third goal instead, sending a long ball to the feet of Prso who squeezed the shot home at the near post with 57 minutes gone.

Prso made way for Libor Sionko seconds later to rapturous applause from the Ibrox fans, before Novo was replaced by Thomas Buffel.

Buffel could have provided the final flourish when he was allowed to run half the length of the pitch unchallenged only to be denied by a one-handed save from Smith.

A Sionko effort was then blocked by the feet of the Killie keeper at the near post, as Gers settled for the 3-0 win.