Rangers inspired by Fabio Silva with Livingston swept aside as title momentum swings towards Ibrox – 3 talking points

Philippe Clement's men can claim top spot on Tuesday night vs Aberdeen before Celtic's trip to Hibs 24 hours later.

Fabio Silva fired his first Rangers goal as Philippe Clement’s side lashed Livingston and edged closer to the Premiership summit.

The Ibrox side are now just three points behind leaders Celtic with a game in hand after taking care of the bottom side. Clement now has seven wins out of seven top-flight home games with the Belgian seriously rekindling Rangers’ title aspirations. Two goals just before the interval laid the platform for success and the opener was a special moment for Silva. The Portuguese got the nod in attack and repaid Clement’s faith with an instinctive strike.

Rabbi Matondo added to the on-loan Wolves man’s counter to double the advantage before the interval and leave Livi toiling. Todd Cantwell’s fourth goal in seven games approaching the hour sealed the deal before Ibrox fans got the additional treat of seeing new boy Oscar Cortes join the fray for the final half-hour with the points in the bag.

Rangers now have the opportunity to join Celtic on the 58-point mark at the top of the table if they defeat Aberdeen on Tuesday night and set themselves up with the benefit of some patience. Livi kept it tight for a while, but it was a matter of time before they were breached and Clement’s men put the game to bed swiftly once making their breakthrough.

Keeper Shamal George may have had to save from Ryan Jack inside a couple of minutes, but Rangers, who lost Leon Balogun to a head knock midway through the opening period, struggled to make many chances before Silva struck four minutes before the interval. However, pressure had built. Matondo had a snapshot tipped over by the Livi No.1 and the hosts netted from the resultant corner.

Borna Barisic’s delivery was kept alive by Connor Goldson and Silva reacted superbly to hook home a volley. Livi players felt Goldson had committed an offence and VAR David Munro checked before the goal was officially awarded.

Matondo then added the second when he stepped inside off the left flank and cracked a shot which deflected on the way beyond George and into the net. Rangers maintained their pace after the restart and Cantwell finished a terrific move involving Ryan Jack and Ross McCausland to sweep home the third. Silva almost bagged his second with a bicycle kick after new signing Cortes came into the contest. Sub Cyriel Dessers swiped a late chance to add his name to the sheet over the bar and fellow replacement Ridvan Yilmaz hit the woodwork, but Rangers were home and hosed by then.

Polished Silva

The on-loan Rangers striker was handed an opportunity to impress and he took it. Named ahead of Cyriel Dessers in the starting line-up, the Portuguese displayed neat touches outside of the box with one delightful back-flick to get Matondo on his way a highlight.

However, Clement needs him to do his damage in the box and the opening goal was evidence of a poacher’s instinct.

Livi appeared set to deal with the set-piece, but Goldson didn’t give it up and Silva was the one who, with opponents hesitant, reacted quickest to gobble up the chance. It was predatory and bodes well for Rangers for the coming weeks.

Oscar screening

Cortes was last man in the door on deadline day as Clement secured a loan agreement with French side Lens and he was straight into the action.

The 20-year-old went into the contest as a direct replacement on the left-hand side for Matondo and was keen to get involved.

There were immediate signs the Colombian is not a touchline-hugger as he was willing to come inside to join the play deep and he got himself right between the sticks with an attempted header near the six-yard box.

Cortes also has vision with a lovely drifted pass over the Livi backline to find Cantwell late in the game and was waiting to pounce after a Dessers shot was half blocked.

It’s far too early to say if he’s going to be a hit. 30 minutes is no time to judge anyone. But there were bits to like.

Time running short for Livingston

Livingston were not expected to take anything away from Ibrox and there is no recrimination in defeat to the title-chasing hosts.

However, it’s another game ticked-off the calendar with no more inroads made on the teams above them in the relegation struggle and time is running out.

They almost got to half-time here, but, when Rangers scored, there was no way back.

Martindale has done a quite magnificent job with the Lions to keep them in the top-flight time and again despite facing stiff odds, yet their prospects for survival this term are getting slimmer by the week.

Livi have not won any of their last 16 Premiership matches and things get no easier with a trip to Kilmarnock looming on Wednesday.

Martindale has produced miracles in the past and he’s going to need to yank another extremely large rabbit from an ever-shrinking hat to dodge the bottom spot.