Tavernier on the double as Rangers move ahead of Celtic

Skipper James Tavernier scored a late penalty double as Rangers romped to the top of the cinch Premiership with a 3-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

Celtic had been leading the table on goals scored but their 1-1 draw at home to Kilmarnock on Saturday left the door open for the Light Blues to take command at the top for the first time since February, 2022.

Ivorian midfielder Mohamed Diomande lit up a dull first half in the 37th minute when he fired in from 25 yards for his first Gers goal since arriving in the winter transfer window.

Tavernier then dispatched penalties after 79 minutes and 87 minutes, both following VAR intervention, taking his tally for the season to 19.

With 12 fixtures remaining, Philippe Clement's side are two points clear of their Old Firm rivals and will take the momentum of nine straight wins into next week's game against third-placed Hearts at Ibrox.

Rangers fans travelled in great expectation for the lunchtime kick-off and again they noted that Clement had rung the changes, mostly in attack, with Borna Barisic, Oscar Cortes, Scott Wright, Diomande and Fabio Silva returning.

Craig Levein's 10th-placed side had Dan Phillips back from injury, with Connor Smith and Ryan McGowan back.

A poor surface was always going to make passing football difficult and the ball spent a lot of time in the air in a scrappy start to the match.

Rangers had 43 attempts on goal in the 3-1 win over Ross County in midweek - 23 on target - but had yet to trouble Saints keeper Dimitar Mitov until Diomande stepped up to break the deadlock.

Another Rangers move looked to have broken down at the edge of the box with McGowan nicking the ball away from Silva.

However, it fell to Diomande and the midfielder, on loan from Danish