Quickfire turnaround edges Rangers past Livingston

James Tavernier's second-half free-kick gave Rangers a hard-fought 2-1 win over Livingston in their Scottish Premiership opener at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Striker Joel Nouble shocked last season's Europa League finalists when he gave the home side the lead with a fine finish in the fifth minute.

David Martindale's side resolutely defended their lead as the Gers pressure grew in intensity into the second half.

But Rangers substitute Scott Arfield levelled with a glancing header in the 72nd minute before skipper Tavernier quickly curled in a free-kick to the relief of the Light Blues support whose nerves were frayed.

Rangers will travel to Belgium for the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round clash with Union Saint Gilloise on Tuesday with more optimism than they might have had they not grabbed those two crucial goals in two minutes.

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It had been a fraught afternoon for Rangers fans who saw Jon McLaughlin preferred to last season's number one Allan McGregor in goal.

There were competitive debuts for John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, and Antonio Colak for the Gers while goalkeeper Shamal George was making his Livi debut after recently signing from Colchester.

The game was paused in the opening minutes by referee Don Robertson to allow some smoke from away fans' pyrotechnics to clear from the Livingston box.

However, the enthusiasm of the Gers supporters was soon dampened when the home side took the lead with a route one goal.

George sent a long ball up the park, skipper Nicky Devlin headed on and Souttar failed to deal with the danger as Nouble moved behind him to lob McLaughlin from inside the box for his first Lions goal

Rangers response was predictable and frantic as a series of crosses and