Rangers 3-0 St Mirren: Alfredo Morelos' 'strong focus' delights Steven Gerrard

Alfredo Morelos showed "really strong focus" in Rangers' 3-0 win against St Mirren, said manager Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard explained after Thursday's loss to Bayer Leverkusen the striker's head had been turned after being linked with Lille.

But he scored his first goals since February with a double against St Mirren after providing the cross for Conor McCarthy's own goal.

"His all-round play deserved those numbers," said Gerrard.

"Alfredo was well aware that he needed to perform a little bit better.

"He certainly showed a great reaction. From the first whistle until the end, it was a really strong Morelos performance."

Morelos started despite the midweek signings of Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe, the latter not in the squad, and drilled the ball across for the opener as McCarthy diverted the ball past Jak Alnwick.

And the 24-year-old recaptured the form of his first three seasons at the club with a powerful header to convert James Tavernier's 69th-minute corner and a close-range finish five minutes later after Borna Barisic had crossed from the left.

Itten came on for his debut in place of Morelos as Gerrard rung the changes.

Alnwick earlier made impressive saves to deny Morelos, Joe Aribo and Tavernier as St Mirren struggled to get out of their own half.

However, home debutant keeper Jon McLaughlin did have to deal with a Jamie McGrath effort after missing a cross then a fierce Ilkay Durmus free-kick.

What did we learn?

While the transfer window remains open, it is likely Morelos will continue to be linked with a move away from Ibrox after scoring 79 goals since he arrived in 2017.

However, this performance showed he can still be an asset to Rangers.

Gerrard's side had nearly three-quarters of the possession, 29 shots in total and 12 on target, building on the superiority they enjoyed at Aberdeen last weekend.

St Mirren got their season off to a winning start last week against Livingston and Alnwick's performance will give the Paisley side confidence they have a reliable last line of defence this season.

However, Jon Obika was very isolated in attack and needs more support in matches where St Mirren are going to be under the cosh.

Man of the match - Alfredo Morelos

What did they say?

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard: "A lot of teams are going to sit here and set us the challenge to find the breakthrough. We stayed on from the first whistle as we chased the breakthrough.

"The competition is hotting up but that's the way it should be at Rangers. No-one should feel comfortable and feel the shirt is theirs. They've got to earn it and perform at a level where you make a manager pick you."

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "I don't think it is a result that we should allow to knock our confidence too much, we won't be judged on these particular games.

"We have to pick the bones out of it tomorrow, look at what we can do better and try and re-energise for another extremely difficult game on Wednesday."

What's next?

St Mirren host Celtic in Wednesday's 18:00 BST kick-off before Rangers take on St Johnstone at Ibrox later that day at 19:45.

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Rangers

Formation 4-2-3-1

33McLaughlin
2Tavernier
6Goldson
26Balogun
31BarisicSubstituted forBasseyat 79'minutes
18Kamara
8JackSubstituted forDavisat 74'minutes
17AriboSubstituted forArfieldat 74'minutes
7Hagi
14KentSubstituted forBarkerat 79'minutes
20MorelosSubstituted forIttenat 75'minutes

Substitutes

3Bassey
5Helander
10Davis
11Itten
12Firth
16Patterson
21Barker
22Jones
37Arfield

St Mirren

Formation 4-1-4-1

1Alnwick
22Fraser
5McCarthy
4Shaughnessy
2Tait
6SheronBooked at 25minsSubstituted forMoriasat 74'minutes
14MacPhersonBooked at 68minsSubstituted forJamiesonat 85'minutes
17McGrath
16FoleySubstituted forErhahonat 85'minutes
11DurmusSubstituted forMcAllisterat 78'minutes
9ObikaSubstituted forThorvaldssonat 84'minutes

Substitutes

10McAllister
15Baird
19Morias
23Thorvaldsson
25Erhahon
26Lyness
30Henderson
33Jamieson
35Jack

Referee:: Andrew Dallas

Match Stats

Home TeamRangersAway TeamSt Mirren

Possession: Home74%; Away26%

Shots: Home28; Away4

Shots on Target: Home12; Away2

Corners: Home14; Away1

Fouls: Home9; Away8

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Rangers 3, St. Mirren 0.
90'+3'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Rangers 3, St. Mirren 0.

90'+2'
Post update
Attempt missed. Steven Davis (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
90'+2'
Post update
Attempt saved. Calvin Bassey (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Scott Arfield.
85'
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Lewis Jamieson replaces Cameron MacPherson.
85'
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Ethan Erhahon replaces Sam Foley.
84'
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Ísak Thorvaldsson replaces Jonathan Obika.
82'
Post update
Attempt missed. Cameron MacPherson (St. Mirren) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left from a direct free kick.
81'
Post update
Foul by Scott Arfield (Rangers).
81'
Post update
Jamie McGrath (St. Mirren) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
79'
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Calvin Bassey replaces Borna Barisic.
79'
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Brandon Barker replaces Ryan Kent.
78'
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Kyle McAllister replaces Ilkay Durmus.
78'
Post update
Attempt missed. Leon Balogun (Rangers) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by James Tavernier with a cross following a corner.
77'
Post update
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Conor McCarthy.
75'
Post update
Foul by Cedric Itten (Rangers).
75'
Post update
Joe Shaughnessy (St. Mirren) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
75'
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Cedric Itten replaces Alfredo Morelos.
74'
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Junior Morias replaces Nathan Sheron.
74'
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Steven Davis replaces Ryan Jack.

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