Ross County beat Rangers as Clement's men suffer blow in title race

Rangers have suffered a blow in the race for the Premiership title as they are defeated by Ross County at Dingwall.

The Staggies recorded their first ever win over the Ibrox side with a shock 3-2 victory on Sunday.

The result means it is very much advantage Celtic at the top of the table with the current champions four points clear at the summit, albeit with Rangers still having a game in hand.

Philippe Clement’s men will have a chance to cut the gap to one point when they play Dundee on Wednesday in their last fixture before the split.

It will then be down to the last five games with Rangers facing a trip to the east end of the city to take on their city rivals at Celtic Park in the next few weeks.

County on the other hand are now unbeaten in their last six home games as they fight for survival at the other end of the table.

The win on Sunday means they increase their advantage over bottom side LIvingston to 12 points and cut the gap to tenth placed St Johnstone to a single point.

Rangers took the lead through a Jack Baldwin own goal early in the first-half after Fabio Silva flicked the ball to the back post from a corner.

But they were pegged back within five minutes of the second-half when Simon Murray and then George Harmon both scored to give the home side a shock lead.

Jack Butland done well to stop the initial efforts on both occasions but he was helpless to keep out the rebounds from close range.

Josh Sims was up next as he increased County’s lead with just over 20 minutes to go.

James Tavernier then stepped up to make it 3-2 from the penalty spot with two minutes left on the clock but it despite a late push for an equaliser it wasn’t to be as they fell to defeat.

County started well and have two efforts at goals, from Harmon and Murray, in the opening ten minutes but neither shot troubled Butland.

Baldwin then turned the ball into his own net on the 15th minute after Silva directed a Tavernier to the back post to make it 1-0.

But Don Cowie’s men never let that get them down as they pushed for an instant equaliser but Butland done well to keep out Sims.

Ross Laidlaw was then called into action up the other and was at full stretch to keep out a looping header from Sima.

Harmon will feel he should have had them level just before half-time but he fired his close range effort over the bar when he should have at least troubled Butland and Rangers went in to half-time in front.

But the home side flew out the traps after the break and have themselves level just two minutes after the restart.

Murray burst through the defence before having his initial effort saved by Butland but he was the first to react to the rebound and there was no mistake as he fired it into the net to make it 1-1.

Then on the 50th minute Harmon turned the game on its head when he fired past Butland from close range to make it 2-1.

The Rangers number one made another good save to keep out Dhanda but Harmon was first to react to the rebound as the Staggies took a shock lead.

Philippe Clement’s side then pushed for an equaliser as they looked to get their title charge back on track but Abdallah Sima fired wide of the target.

The on-loan Brighton forward did have the ball in the net soon after but he clearly used his hand and was booked as a result.

Ross County then increased their lead when Sims finished off a good counter attack to make it 3-1 to the hosts.

Rangers were handed a lifeline with five minutes to go when they were awarded a penalty for a handball after a VAR check.

Tavernier stepped up and slotted it past Laidlaw to make it 3-2 going into the dying minutes of the match.

Seven minutes were added on at the end as Rangers pushed to get themselves back on level terms but it wasn’t enough as Ross County managed to see it out.