Miovski Lifts Rangers to Second Place with Stoppage-Time Winner
Bojan Miovski stepped off the bench and into the noise, lifting Rangers into second place with a stoppage‑time winner that tore the lid off Ibrox and broke St Mirren hearts.
After 90 scrappy, stubborn minutes, one touch and a dink decided it.
Miovski’s moment after drab Ibrox grind
The game was meandering towards the kind of goalless draw that drains energy from a title chase. Rangers pushed, St Mirren stood firm, the crowd grew restless.
Then Ivor Pandur went long.
His clearance was flicked on by Ryan Naderi, drafted in to lead the line in place of injured captain Lawrence Shankland. Miovski read it first, burst through the middle and suddenly the entire night hinged on a single duel with Zach Hemming’s opposite number, Lawrence Chapman.
The St Mirren goalkeeper rushed out. Miovski stayed ice cold. One calm lift of the ball, a cute dink over the keeper, and Ibrox erupted. A grim, grinding night transformed in an instant into a fourth straight league win.
Derek McInnes spoke of relief and resilience afterwards, and he had every right. His side had dominated long spells, then almost thrown control away with a ragged spell after the hour, only to summon the sharpest moment of quality when it mattered most.
St Mirren’s big chance goes begging
This could easily have been St Mirren’s story.
Craig McLeish’s side arrived with a plan and the courage to stick to it. Compact without the ball, brave with it, they soaked up pressure and waited for their moment. On 66 minutes, it came.
Fraser Taylor broke clear, straight through on Pandur with the whole of the Copland Road end holding its breath. He had time, space, and the clearest chance of the night. Taylor picked his spot but hit too close to the Rangers goalkeeper, who stood tall and saved comfortably.
It was the miss that changed everything.
McLeish later called his players “monsters” for their effort, and the description fit. They pressed, they ran, they blocked. Chapman, in particular, looked determined to leave with something.
Earlier, he had already frustrated Rangers with a string of big interventions. On 17 minutes, Nicolas Raskin met a cross from Badredine Bouanani and powered a header towards the bottom corner, only for Chapman to claw it away. Five minutes later, he produced a superb double save, first smothering a strike from Mohamed Gassama on the edge of the area, then springing up to deny Bouanani on the rebound.
St Mirren had their goalkeeper in inspired form and their best chance on a plate. They left with nothing.
Rangers grind, then find a way
This was not a flowing, swaggering Rangers display. For an hour, McInnes’ side controlled the ball, moved it with intent and carved out enough opportunities to feel they should have been ahead. Then came a jittery 20‑minute spell, full of rushed decisions and loose passes that opened the door for St Mirren.
McInnes did not hide from that. He admitted his team lost their way in that period, but he also pointed to what came next: perseverance, pressure, and the refusal to accept a draw.
The absence of Shankland loomed over the team sheet before kick-off. Naderi, handed the start, worked hard and eventually played a crucial role with the flick that released Miovski. Yet it was the substitute who stole the night, rewarded for what McInnes described as his relentless training habits and “lovely, calm finish” when the game cried out for composure.
Four wins from four in the league. Six victories in seven in all competitions. The performances are not yet polished, but the direction of travel is clear.
Rangers have hauled themselves above St Mirren into second place, while McLeish’s men absorb a second straight league defeat after their 2-1 loss to Celtic. For a team that “deserved at least a point,” as their manager insisted, the table offers no consolation.
Celtic looming on the horizon
The timing of Miovski’s intervention could shape more than one night.
Rangers now roll into a huge double-header against Celtic with momentum intact and belief hardening. First comes a League Cup quarter-final, then a Premiership clash at Parkhead that will test every claim McInnes has made about his team’s growing character.
St Mirren leave with pride but no points, their manager adamant that their season will not be judged on what they do at Ibrox. Rangers, though, know exactly how theirs will be judged.
Nights like this – ugly, tense, decided by a single touch in stoppage time – often separate contenders from spectators. Which will they be when they walk into Parkhead?
