Rangers rev up for Celtic title crunch as derby day of reckoning arrives after madcap Killie thriller - 3 talking points

Rangers cut the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership back to three points on leaders Celtic with a 4-1 win over 10-man Kilmarnock at Ibrox to set up a mammoth Old Firm title showdown at Parkhead.

James Tavernier netted an early own goal and then blew the chance to level from the spot when his penalty was saved by Will Dennis after Joe Wright handled on the line to deny Dujon Sterling which earned the Killie man a red card.

Rangers took advantage of the extra man to level deep into the eight minutes of first half injury time through Fabio Silva and substitute Ben Davies - on for the injury Leon Balogun at half time - was the unlikely scorer to put Gers in front early in the second half to ease nerves and fellow sub Tom Lawrence scored a screamer and it was his shot that was saved that led to John Souttar adding a fourth when he bodded home the rebound.

With the huge pressure Rangers were under to get the win, a fast start was essential and they were almost presented with a dream chance to open the scoring from the spot when David Dickinson was sent to the monitor by VAR Steven Kirkland for a potential handball against Corrie Ndaba but the whistler stick to his original decision not to award a penalty.

There was the prosecute of another penalty inside 10 minutes when Cyriel Dessers went down inside the box but the striker had been offside in the build-up so it was another escape for Killie who were living dangerously early on but incredibly the visitors grabbed the lead. Danny Armstrong did well down the right, clipped a ball into the back post for Liam Polworth and Matty Kennedy knocked it back across goal and it deflected off Tavernier and beyond Jack Butland.

It was an incident-packed opening with VAR at the heart of