Rangers moved to within a solitary point of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic after earning a 2-0 away victory against St Mirren. The result in Paisley stretched the club's unbeaten sequence to 12 fixtures across all competitions, taking in 10 wins and two draws. Although Derek McInnes' side possesses the finest defensive record in the division alongside the third-best attacking return, debate remains over whether the squad is performing to its full capabilities.
Ryan Naderi provided the breakthrough from the penalty spot—netting his sixth goal in eight league outings—before midfielder Dan Neil secured the points with a deflected strike into the bottom corner. Kevin Kelsy also failed to convert several opportunities early in the second period, while the hosts missed a late chance to pull one back. Reviewing the match on Sky Sports, former Celtic forward Chris Sutton cautioned that a missing "killer instinct" and lack of game management could eventually "bite Rangers in the backside," with former Rangers striker Kris Boyd agreeing that "there is something missing."
Underlying figures highlight Rangers' wastefulness in the final third, having scored only 21 times from an expected goals tally of 29.8 across their 12 league matches. With essential attacking duo Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti unavailable due to injury, Naderi and Kelsy have shouldered the scoring duties, failing to register between them in just two games since August. Surrounding attackers have yet to offer consistent output; South Korean winger Kim Min-su created the most chances on Saturday but has zero goals or assists since arriving from Girona in the summer, while Badredine Bouanani has also lacked regular final product.
Neil, the former Sunderland midfielder, acknowledged that the squad regularly discusses being more ruthless, a point McInnes stressed when addressing poor decision-making in promising positions. Reflecting on a period that included draws against Hearts and Dundee over the last two and a half months, McInnes—who narrowly missed out on the championship with Heart of Midlothian last term—insisted the team's main battle is to continually improve. Should those refinements occur, Sutton noted that Rangers possess another gear that will cause serious concern for their league rivals.
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