Malik Tillman was the only American to see significant action among the field players as Rangers held on to book their spot in the next round of the Scottish FA Cup.
St. Johnstone 0-1 Rangers
Rangers’ goal before the end of the first half would be enough as they booked their place in the last 16 with their win over St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Malik Tillman was in the starting eleven for the Light Blues and played 67 minutes, while James Sands watched all of the action from the bench.
The visitors should not have had many problems in this game as St. Johnstone came in with a five-game losing streak. However, the Saints held their own for a while, leaving Rangers frustrated.
Rangers would break the scoreless deadlock just before the halftime whistle when Tillman played the ball into the path of Fashion Sakala. The Zambian’s shot came ricocheting off the post, but Borna Barisic pounced on the loose ball to put it into the back of the net.
The second half would see Rangers maintain their advantage although could not capitalize with an insurance goal. St. Johnstone would have to thank their goalkeeper Remi Matthews for keeping them in the game after making a few key saves to keep the score at 1-0.
The visitors would have a scare in their own end later in the game when the hosts came close to leveling the score through Theo Bair. His headed attempt was heading towards the goal, but Rangers captain James Tavernier would recover just in time to clear the ball off the line.
In the end, Rangers were lucky to make the escape on the night to move on to the next round.
Notes
Ian Harkes came on to play the final eight minutes for Dundee United as they knocked out Stirling University following a 3-0 scoreline.
Celtic gave Cameron Carter-Vickers time to rest due to injury, but it was a long day for Brian Schwake as he was between the posts for Greenock Morton in their 5-0 defeat to the Hoops.
