Resilient Rangers stay in touch

By Alex O'Henley

Buoyed by their UEFA Cup victory on Thursday night, Rangers FC picked up their third straight Scottish Premier League win by defeating Kilmarnock FC 2-0 on Sunday. The Glasgow club have now played more than eleven hours of football since conceding a goal and remain five points behind leaders and city rivals Celtic FC thanks to unanswered strikes from Marvyn Andrews and Nacho Novo at Ibrox.

Rare start
Trindidad and Tobago international Andrews made a rare start for the home side and did his chances of a regular spot in Alex McLeish's side no harm by stabbing in a loose ball following a tenth-minute corner. Kris Boyd, the Kilmarnock striker who scored five goals against Dundee United FC last week, almost levelled when he hit the post midway through the second half, but Novo eased any nerves among the home fans with his fourth goal of the season nine minutes from time.

Celtic comfort
Celtic recovered from their midweek UEFA Champions League defeat against AC Milan with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Dundee United at Tannadice. Chris Sutton headed O'Neill's side into the lead on nine minutes and Bulgarian midfield player Stilian Petrov doubled their advantage eight minutes later. Sutton effectively made the points safe with his fourth goal of the season from the penalty spot on 36 minutes after young goalkeeper Paul Jarvie had upended Henri Camara in the area.

McDonald happy
Scott McDonald leads the scoring charts after his 38th-minute glancing header gave Motherwell FC the lead against Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. It was the Australian striker's seventh goal of the season and looked to be enough to give Terry Butcher's side all three points, but Stuart McCaffrey scored a last-minute equaliser for John Robertson's team. The Highlanders are two points adrift of Livingston FC at the bottom of the table after Alan Preston's side held Heart of Midlothian FC to a 0-0 draw at Tynecastle.

Fotherigham off
In Saturday's fixtures, Aberdeen FC came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with Dundee FC at Pittodrie. John Sutton had given the Dens Park side a first-minute lead, but Finnish midfield player Markus Heikkenen equalised for the Dons three minutes before half-time. Dundee finished the game with ten men after Mark Fotheringham was sent-off for his second bookable offence on 75 minutes.

Denied by Donnelly
Elsewhere, Gary O'Connor's strike on 38 minutes looked to have given Hibernian FC their first win against Dunfermline Athletic FC at East End Park in 13 years, but substitute Simon Donnelly earned a point for the home side with his first goal for the club four minutes from time.