Kelsy double helps Rangers beat St Johnstone 4-0 and close on Celtic

Rangers beat St Johnstone 4-0 at Ibrox on Saturday to move within one point of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic. Kevin Kelsy scored twice, with Ryan Naderi and Tochi Chukwuani also on target. BBC Sport reported that the result extended Rangers' unbeaten run to eight matches after they dropped points at Dundee the previous weekend.

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Derek McInnes selected Kelsy and Naderi together in attack, leaving Djeidi Gassama among the substitutes. Both forwards contributed to the scoring: Kelsy finished with two goals, while Naderi supplied an assist as well as finding the net. Their partnership came with Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti still absent, according to BBC Sport.

Kim Min-Su helped create the breakthrough before the half-hour, finding Naderi, who passed for Kelsy to finish. Kim subsequently struck the post from distance, while St Johnstone goalkeeper Toby Steward saved another Kelsy effort. Josh Fowler put an opportunity into the side-netting at the other end.

The visitors applied pressure after the interval, but Naderi made it 2-0 by following up when Steward parried a Kim shot. Kelsy then converted Emmanuel Fernandez's flick-on from a corner. Substitute Kai Fotheringham was dismissed after a VAR review of his challenge on Nico Raskin, before Gassama supplied Chukwuani for the fourth goal.

The BBC's match figures underlined the difference between the sides. Rangers produced 21 shots, including nine on target, and eight big chances compared with St Johnstone's two. Expected goals were recorded at 4.57 for the hosts and 0.58 for the visitors.

Kelsy's second goal also ended Rangers' wait for a goal from a corner this season. They won 13 corners during the match. McInnes praised the performance afterwards, while acknowledging that his players had been slow to restart after half-time. St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari accepted that Rangers deserved victory.

Rangers next face Hearts at Tynecastle on Wednesday. For McInnes, it will be his first return there since leaving Hearts for Rangers in the summer. He pointed to his former club's strong home record while expressing confidence in his current team's form.