Steven Whittaker and Kris Boyd scored two goals apiece as Rangers thumped Hamilton 4-1 at Ibrox.
Whittaker and Boyd sparkle in 4-1 win
Steven Whittaker and Kris Boyd scored two goals apiece as Rangers thumped Hamilton 4-1 at Ibrox.
Whittaker opened the scoring after 19 minutes and Boyd made it 2-0 eight minutes later to put Gers firmly in control.
Boyd and then Whittaker struck again in quick succession midway through the second half as Rangers cruised to their third straight win despite Mark McLaughlin's late consolation.
Early pressure
Rangers immediately piled on the pressure with Steven Davis racing onto a long ball from Pedro Mendes and surging into the box only for his first effort to be blocked by goalkeeper Tomas Cerny and his second attempt rippling the side-netting.
The Northern Ireland international then had another decent chance when he found himself clear on goal a few moments later only to sidefoot a weak shot into the arms of the Accies goalkeeper.
Hamilton found themselves trailing after 19 minutes and Davis was involved once again, setting up Whittaker to coolly slot past the helpless Cerny as Ibrox erupted.
Rangers doubled their advantage with 27 minutes gone when a Sasa Papac cross was inadvertently nodded back into the packed goalmouth by Simon Mensing and Boyd was waiting to send a looping header into the back of the net.
The match could have been over within seconds of the restart when Kenny Miller whipped an inviting ball across the face of goal to Madjid Bougherra at the far post but he hooked harmlessly over.
The defender was then fuming at the other end of the pitch when referee Stevie O'Reilly deemed he had fouled Luis Rubiales on the edge of the box and handed Accies the opportunity to apply some pressure of their own.
Allan McGregor managed to block from Lyle's free-kick but the goalkeeper was left flapping at a cross from James McArthur before his defence eventually cleared the danger.
Hopes dashed
Any hopes of an Accies comeback were dashed after 65 minutes when Davis found Steven Naismith out on the left and his cut-back was met by Boyd who lashed home from 10 yards.
Not to be outdone, Whittaker grabbed his second of the day in style just two minutes later. He played a one-two with Davis before dispatching a terrific curving shot past Cerny from 22 yards.
With the three points already in the bag, Rangers had the luxury of making a couple of changes in the latter stages.
Nacho Novo was given his first taste of action this season after missing the opening two matches with a dislocated shoulder, before youngster Gregg Wylde was handed his first-team debut when he replaced Miller for the final 10 minutes.
Hamilton did manage to pull a goal back with three minutes to go when McLaughlin nodded home from a Rubiales corner but it was scant consolation for a team still looking to put points on the board this season.
