Bojan Miovski brace inspires Rangers to victory at Kilmarnock

Bojan Miovski scored twice as Rangers closed the gap to the William Hill Premiership top two with a 3-0 win at Kilmarnock.

Danny Rohl’s side took the lead in the 33rd minute with a drive from the North Macedonia striker, who added a second in the 54th minute with a fine finish from inside the box.

The goals doubled Miovski’s tally for the Govan club since signing from Girona in the summer and the travelling fans celebrated further when Spurs loanee Mikey Moore came off the bench to add a third in the 81st minute before having a second chalked off.

Killie’s frustrated boss Stuart Kettlewell was sent off by referee Kevin Clancy in the 72nd minute, presumably for dissent, on a night to be forgotten for the Ayrshire side, who missed several chances.

Rangers moved back into fourth place and to within six points of leaders Hearts and Celtic, who play at Parkhead on Sunday, with at least one of them guaranteed to drop points.

The Gers fans’ pre-match display of flares filled half the ground with smoke at the start of the game which soon sped from end to end.

In the eighth minute Gers midfielder Connor Barron slung a free-kick from the right into the box and Miovski’s header drew a save from Killie goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi.

At the other end, Marcus Dackers cleared Rangers keeper Jack Butland’s crossbar with a header from Scott Tiffoney’s whipped-in cross before Ibrox winger Djeidi Gassama fired over from 12 yards.

In the 18th minute Killie attacker Bruce Anderson raced clear of the absent Gers defence, but his dink over Butland was cleared away from the line by Barron, although the offside flag was up.

Two minutes later, 19-year-old Findlay Curtis took over from the injured Nedim Bajrami.

Miovski’s opener came as Rangers pressed Killie into their own area and he passed up three possible chances to get a shot away, preferring the pass, but when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box amid a clutch of Killie players, he fired it low past Oluwayemi for his third goal of the season.

There was a VAR check for a Kilmarnock penalty early in the second half when midfielder David Watson was challenged by Mohamed Diomande on the edge of the area, but referee Clancy was not asked to go his pitchside monitor.

Moments later, on a Rangers break, midfielder Nicolas Raskin played in Miovski and the former Aberdeen striker wrong-footed Oluwayemi with a confident shot from 12 yards.

The home side were not yet finished and Butland brilliantly beat away a deflected shot from Anderson before saving a header from captain Robbie Deas.

Watson then headed wide just before Kettlewell was sent packing and there was more pain to follow.

Fit-again Moore, one of several Gers substitutes, drove at the Kilmarnock box before curling the ball into the corner.

He had the ball in the net again with a clever chip, but Clancy was asked to go to his pitchside monitor this time and ruled out the effort for an infringement by Gers defender Emmanuel Fernandez on Watson in the build-up.