Livingston 1-3 Rangers: Champions hold off fightback to stretch lead

Joe Aribo swept in Rangers' second goal after just 16 minutes

Rangers held off Livingston's fightback to maintain their Scottish Premiership lead on Giovanni van Bronckhorst's first league match in charge.

Bruce Anderson responded for Livingston before the break but Fashion Sakala killed off their challenge.

Victory moves Rangers six points clear of Hearts in second place and seven ahead of Celtic.

However, Ange Postecoglou's side have the chance to get back to four points behind when they face Aberdeen at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

• Reaction & as it happened

Van Bronckhorst got his first win with his first match in charge on Thursday night against Sparta Prague and made just one change as Arfield replaced Steven Davis in midfield.

The Canada international's familiar trait of running in behind from deep opened up the chance for the first goal as he ghosted in between two of Livingston's three centre-backs to collect James Tavernier's clever pass and scoop the ball over Max Stryjek into the net.

Livingston were opened up again soon after as Ryan Kent kept his width on the left flank as the ball went to the right-hand side, and he was able to receive a diagonal switch before feeding Morelos, who teed up Aribo to sweep a brilliant finish off the under side of the bar and in.

Livingston looked rattled but were able to take advantage of Rangers' ongoing slackness at the back this term. Jack Fitzwater arrowed a long ball in behind Connor Goldson for Alan Forrest, and Anderson pounced to head home when his team-mate's shot was saved.

The response drained the tempo from Rangers' game and goalkeeper Allan McGregor had to stretch to push Forrest's back-post shot over the bar before the break as Borna Barisic stood off and allowed Bailey's cross to arrive.

Despite a near 10-minute delay to the second half after Rangers fans threw snowballs on to the pitch, both teams initially upped the pace after the break and Stryjek had to deny Hagi, Kent, and Aribo.

However, Livingston managed to stay in the fight, up until the final 12 minutes when substitute Sakala capitalised to head in Rangers' third after Stryjek misjudged Tavernier's corner.

Man of the match - Ryan Kent

Kent was influential as he stayed wide, and looks sharp after his return from injury. Tavernier grabbed another two assists to underline his consistency

What did we learn?

Van Bronckhorst has picked up from Steven Gerrard without a hitch so far, but there were a few of the same hints of change from Thursday. The use of Kent and Hagi as more traditional wingers rather than the usual number 10s was evident again in the first period, and the former's width was crucial to the second goal as switches of play proved effective.

Hagi picked up clever positions between Livingston's centre-backs and left-wing back and looks like he will get plenty of time to build consistent form under the new manager. Bringing Nathan Patterson on to replace him again suggests the Scotland full-back may be in for more game time too.

Defence is still an issue for Rangers, though, and they have now conceded more goals in their first 14 league games than they did in the whole of last season. Even if last term was a freakish effort, solidity remains a problem.

Livingston's goal came from a diagonal ball into the space between Goldson and the advanced Tavernier, and the former was erratic in possession on a few occasions in the first half. Barisic seems to stay back more often to help, though the Croatian was more influential in attack after the break.

As for Livingston, David Martindale was marking a year in charge and he can be relatively pleased with his side's efforts, bar a disjointed first 20 minutes when they were erratic and fell two goals behind.

Stephane Omeonga battled well in midfield, Anderson put in a great shift up front and they hung in there for long spells. However, the manager would have wanted to see more from his team in attack as they faded after a fast start to the second half.

What's next?

Both sides begin a busy December fixture schedule with away trips in the Premiership. Rangers face their League Cup conquerors Hibernian on Wednesday (19:45 GMT), while Livingston play Aberdeen at the same time.