Analysing Rangers' Emphatic Victory Against St. Johnstone

Having dropped two points away to Dundee last time out, Saturday's clash at home to St. Johnstone was bordering on must win territory for Rangers, despite still being in such an early stage of the season. 

Well, that is exactly what they did - and how. Not only did Derek McInnes' side make sure the three points stayed at Ibrox, they did it in style with a 4-0 win that, in truth, was flattering of the opponents. 

You just need to look at the numbers to see how dominant and one sided this win was. Rangers had 4.57xG to the visitors 0.56, eight big chances to two, and 21 shots to nine. They had only one fewer big chance than St. Johnstone had shots of any note. 

Although the Old Firm wins were more important, and against better opposition, without added context this was the best performance of the McInnes era so far. There have been some good wins, but none as dominant as this. 

Perhaps the most encouraging part of the game was Kevin Kelsy continuing his great start to life in Glasgow. It is never easy for a player to join a club in the circumstances that he did. Another country, another continent, in a country that do not speak the same language as you. Not only that, but he joined from MLS, so he was midway through his season over there. His season started in February, and will not end until May - 15 months later. 

Yet, despite this, the 22-year old already has four goals and an assist in 426 minutes of action, the equivalent of around 4.7 full games of football. An impressive return so far. 

His movement is just top class. He had seven shots today, tallying 2.03 expected goals, despite not taking a penalty. For some context, Rangers have had multiple games this season without having that much xG as a team. 

Meanwhile, Ryan Don Naderi impressed in the number ten role, scoring and registering an assist, as well as creating two big chances. It is clear to see - and hopefully McInnes now agrees - that that is his best position and role. 

In the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock, Naderi started as a number ten and scored twice. He then lead the line against Dundee and struggled, before moving back to the ten against St. Johnstone. That cannot be a coincidence. Play him in his best role. Football is a simple sport sometimes. 

To finish off, Min-su Kim is a serious player. He did not get his goal, and missed a guilt edged chance to do so, but he did everything else - as the gaffer said himself during his post game media duties. 

During the game, Kim created six chances including a big chances, completed 2/2 long balls and had 65 touches of the ball in 80 minutes on the pitch. A very good performance, and the fact he is getting into the areas to score is encouraging in itself. 

A great win and an even better performance, but Rangers must build on this now. It is a big week coming up - McInnes first visit back to Tynecastle Park on Wednesday, before the League Cup semi final with another of his former clubs, Hearts, at Hampden Park on Saturday.