Miovski's Late Goal Secures Rangers Victory Over St Mirren

Bojan Miovski needed one touch to turn a grim night into a roar.

Deep into stoppage time, with Ibrox braced for groans rather than glory, the Rangers substitute darted onto Ryan Naderi’s flick, spotted Zach Hemming Chapman hurtling towards him, and answered with ice-cold calm. A delicate dink, the ball hanging for a heartbeat under the floodlights, dropped into the net and detonated a 90-minute tension bomb.

Rangers 1, St Mirren 0. Four league wins in a row. Second place reclaimed. And a stadium that had spent most of the evening grinding its teeth finally let itself breathe.

A late twist after a laboured night

For so long, this looked like the night Derek McInnes’ side stalled.

They had to do it without captain and focal point Lawrence Shankland, ruled out through injury. Naderi led the line in his place, full of running but with little to show for it as Rangers probed and prodded without landing the punch their pressure promised.

St Mirren arrived with their own scars after a 2-1 defeat to Celtic, but Craig McLeish sent them out to scrap, not sulk. They were organised, aggressive and, crucially, dangerous on the break. This was no smash-and-grab resistance act; they swung back whenever they could.

Rangers still carved out the better chances early on.

On 17 minutes, Nico Raskin thought he had cracked it, stealing into the box to meet a cross from Badredine Bouanani with a firm header. Chapman, though, flung himself to his right and clawed it away, a save that set the tone for his night.

Five minutes later, the St Mirren goalkeeper went one better. First he dropped low to parry a driven effort from Mohamed Gassama at the edge of the box. The rebound fell perfectly for Bouanani, charging in to bury it, but Chapman sprang up and blocked again. Two saves in seconds, both outstanding, and Rangers’ frustration deepened.

The longer it stayed goalless, the more Ibrox tightened.

St Mirren’s big moment goes begging

Then came the chance. The one that might haunt St Mirren’s season.

On 66 minutes, a simple ball sliced Rangers open and Fraser Taylor was suddenly clear, one-on-one with Ivor Pandur. Time to choose his corner, time to write the story. Instead, he picked out the goalkeeper.

Taylor’s effort was too close, Pandur stood strong, and the save felt as big as any goal. McLeish’s reaction on the touchline told its own story. He knew. Everyone did. You don’t waste those at Ibrox and expect to walk away unpunished.

St Mirren kept working, kept tackling, kept believing. McLeish later said they “played like monsters” and it wasn’t far off. They were brave on the ball, disciplined without it, and refused to wilt even as Rangers pushed them back.

But the momentum had shifted. Taylor’s miss hung in the air.

Miovski delivers when it matters

McInnes turned to his bench and found his match-winner.

Miovski, introduced to inject life into a tiring attack, offered sharp movement and a different kind of threat. Still, as the clock ticked into added time, it looked like too little, too late. The home crowd had started to accept a grim point.

Then Pandur went long.

His clearance was meat and drink for most centre-backs, but Naderi read it early and flicked it on with just enough touch to wrong-foot the defence. Miovski was already on the move, bursting into the gap. One stride, two, and Chapman came racing out to close him down.

This time, there was no snatched finish, no nerves. Miovski simply lifted the ball over the keeper with a wonderfully measured lob. Cute, yes. Clinical, absolutely. The net bulged, and Ibrox erupted.

McInnes spoke afterwards of perseverance, of “sheer will to keep going”. This was exactly that: a win dragged out of a game that threatened to slip away, secured by a forward who has been training, waiting, and refusing to drift out of the picture.

McInnes wants more, but momentum builds

The Rangers manager didn’t pretend this was perfect. For an hour, he liked what he saw: aggression, tempo, chances. Then came a spell of ragged decision-making that opened the door for St Mirren and left him raging on the touchline.

Still, the numbers don’t argue. Four wins from four in the league. Six victories in their last seven games in all competitions. Up to second place, nudging St Mirren down after their second straight defeat.

McInnes wants them to win with more ease. To turn pressure into goals earlier, to avoid the chaos of late drama. But he also knows what a stoppage-time winner says about a squad’s character. Strength. Fitness. Belief. The kind of qualities that matter when the stakes rise.

And they are about to rise sharply.

St Mirren’s pride, Rangers’ looming test

McLeish walked away with nothing on the board but plenty in the performance.

He praised his players’ bravery, their adherence to the plan, and their physical effort after a draining run of fixtures. He insisted there would be no excuses about four games in 12 days. St Mirren, he said, “played like monsters” and, on another night, they take at least a point. Maybe more.

He refused to pin their season on a near-miss at Ibrox. If they match this level, he argued, the points will come. On this evidence, that’s hard to dispute.

For Rangers, though, this was about more than three points. It was about rhythm, resilience, and rolling into the biggest fortnight of their season with wind in their sails.

Next up, a double-header with Celtic. First, a League Cup quarter-final. Then a Premiership showdown at Parkhead.

They go into it on a winning run, fuelled by late drama, backed by a support that has just been reminded what it feels like to snatch victory at the death.

The question now is simple: can this version of Rangers turn narrow escapes into statements when the stakes are at their highest?