Date	Sunday, 04 October 2020
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Rangers 2:0 Ross County
Venue	Ibrox Park
Attendance
Referee	Greg Aitken
Comments	Match Report Report by Thomas Duncan for the BBC. Rangers 2 Ross County 0 Played Behind Closed Doors Rangers want teams to "fear" coming to Ibrox, says captain James Tavernier, after the club maintained their 100% Scottish Premiership home record by beating Ross County. Brandon Barker's late strike added to Tavernier's earlier penalty to make it a sixth straight win at Ibrox. The victory takes Rangers top, one point above Celtic, having played a game more. "We want people to come to Ibrox and fear us," Tavernier told Rangers TV. "We want to have such a presence when we play against teams here. We've just got to keep that going - getting the wins and clean sheets. "We got the three points, but we were disappointed with the performance." After an impressive win against Galatasaray on Thursday secured a third-straight season in the Europa League group stages, Steven Gerrard spoke of the importance of having something tangible to celebrate come the end of the season. It reflected the primacy of domestic football for Rangers as they aim to stop Celtic winning an historic 10th straight title. With Jon McLaughlin back in goal and Ryan Jack making his first start after recovering a calf injury, the hosts had to shake themselves into life after a positive start by County. And it was Tavernier's influence high up the pitch which got his team started, as he floated a ball towards Morelos, who was clattered into by Donaldson, before slotting the resulting penalty down the middle. Thereafter, the game played out as might have been expected as Rangers created further chances while County did their best to keep themselves in the contest. Ryan Kent and Morelos had long-range efforts which went close before the break, before the Colombian side-footed over the bar once played through by Glen Kamara in the second half. Centre-backs Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun both put efforts over the bar after good deliveries from corners. After defending admirably to keep themselves in the game, County came close to snatching an equaliser with just over 10 minutes left when Donaldson rose unmarked in the box, only to head onto the roof of the net. The final quarter was more open and frantic than Gerrard would have liked, but ultimately his side clinched an important win when Barker picked up the ball on the right of the box before cutting in past two County defenders to fire low into the net. Tavernier's performance underlined his importance to Rangers. The club captain - at times a target for criticism in recent campaigns - seems to be playing with the shackles off this season. He was everywhere, often popping up in central areas as well as his customary right-hand side, bringing his quality on the ball to bear as Rangers probed for more goals. The Englishman wasn't tested defensively, but he has not put a foot wrong so far this term. County performed admirably in defence when many would have predicted more goals from Rangers, but their lack of threat hampered their chances of points, particularly after Donaldson's early error.
Ross County
Manager	Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 5: Callum Morris 1, 6: Ross Draper, 7: Michael Gardyne, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 22: Jordon Tillson, 24: Harrison Paton, 25: Coll Donaldson, 27: Ross Stewart, 43: Josh Reid
Bench	21: Ross Doohan, 3: Carl Tremarco, 8: Oliver Shaw, 9: Billy Mckay, 10: Michael O'Connor, 12: Tom Grivosti, 14: Jermaine Hylton, 15: Keith Watson, 47: Adam Mackinnon
Rangers
Manager	Steven Gerrard
Starting 11	Jonathan McLaughlin, James Tavernier 1 (1 pen), Connor Goldson, Leon Balogun, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack, Scott Arfield, Glen Kamara, Jordan Jones, Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos
Bench	Allan McGregor, Calvin Bassey, George Edmundson, Nathan Patterson, Steven Davis, Ianis Hagi, Brandon Barker 1, Jamie Barjonas, Jermaine Defoe