Partick Thistle ... 1 Rangers ... 2: If Rangers go on and win the championship they may well look back on the day they made the short trip to Firhill as the key to success.
They were missing a host of regulars and were so out of touch that, for 70 minutes, Partick looked more like the pretenders to the title. Then out of nothing Rangers equalised Alex Burns' opener through Michael Mols, benefited from the sending-off of Gerry Britton two minutes later, and snatched an ill-deserved winner through Ronald de Boer.
It could prove a vital win, for it restored the four-point lead over Celtic that had been cut to one by the Parkhead side's victory over Dundee on Saturday.
Rangers were certainly fortunate because they struggled, especially in the first half. Burns finished off a good move involving Britton and Kenny Milne, and Rangers fell apart at the seams as Kevin Muscat and Craig Moore were booked in quick succession.
Rangers' manager Alex McLeish took off Russell Latapy and sent on Claudio Caniggia after 38 minutes and at half-time replaced Alan Hutton with Bob Malcolm, changes that made a considerable difference.
Although Lorenzo Amoruso was booked for dissent in the 53rd minute it was nothing compared with Partick's dissatisfaction two minutes after Mols had scrambled home the equaliser for relieved Rangers. Britton appeared to throw an arm up in frustration and accidently caught Muscat, who was behind him. There was general disbelief when the referee John Underhill sent off the Partick striker.
Thistle's frustration worsened when De Boer made it 2-1 and before the end Stefan Klos had to produce a wonderful save to deny Martin Hardie.
PARTICK: Arthur, Lilley, Archibald, Chiarini, Craigan, Paterson, Mitchell (Lennon 82), Milne (McLean 80), Hardie, Britton, Burns. Subs not used: Budinauckas, Gibson, Waddell. Sent off: Britton (72). Booked: Milne. Goals: Burns 7.
RANGERS: Klos, Hutton (Malcolm 46), Muscat, Amoruso, Moore, Latapy (Caniggia 38), Ferguson, Hughes (McLean 66), Mols, de Boer, Lovenkrands. Subs not used: McGregor, Nerlinger. Booked: Muscat, Moore, Amoruso. Goals: Mols 70, de Boer 79.
Referee: J Underhill (Scotland).
