St. Johnstone defied the odds to knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup at the quarter-final stage after a late goal from goalkeeper Zander Clark, and then two penalty saves in a shoothout – but Rangers fans have praised Ryan Kent.
Having beaten Celtic in the previous round, victory against St. Johnstone at Ibrox on Sunday night will have seen Rangers take a big step closer to securing the double. But Callum Davidson’s side defended with passion throughout.
The Gers started with a front three of Ianis Hagi, Alfredo Morelos and £20,000-a-week (TeamTalk) attacker Kent. The ex-Liverpool man clocked up his 49th appearance of the season, having previously had a hand in 25 goals.
But the likes of Morelos and Hagi could not provide the difference, neither could substitutes Scott Wright and Kemar Roofe – though the latter duo gave the Gers more energy. Kent lasted the entire 120 minutes, in a crazy finish.
Crosses went into the St. Johnstone box time and time again, but it was a left-footed delivery from Joe Aribo that proved the difference – as captain Tavernier got rose highest to nod the ball past Zander Clark. His 18th this season.
But in injury time of extra time – the game took another bizarre twist as St. Johnstone goalkeeper Clark headed a corner in to take the game to penalties. Tavernier missed, which is something you do not normally see.
Kemar Roofe also missed as St. Johnstone converted all four of their penalties, knocking Rangers out of the cup at the quarter-final stage. It is a massive blow to Rangers, who will have been desperate to add to the league title.
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With Rangers having beaten Celtic, they were everyone’s favourite to win the competition but St. Johnstone – instead – progress into the semi-finals. Many Rangers fans applauded Kent, who was energetic throughout the match.