Nigeria midfielder Joe Ayodele-Aribo scored a stunning goal as Rangers thrashed St Mirren 4-0 in a Scottish Premiership duel on Sunday.
Aribo scored the fourth goal for the visitors after Kemar Roofe had netted a hat-trick to ensure they grabbed the important points from their opponents.
Aribo and Roofe were indeed beneficiaries of the changes made by manager Gio van Bronckhorst to the squad that played against Braga on Thursday.
Fil Helander, Aaron Ramsey, Aribo, Roofe, and Borna Barisic replaced Leon Balogun, Calvin Bassey, Glen Kamara, Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield.
Nigeria’s Balogun was in the matchday squad as an unused substitute, while his international teammate Bassey was absent altogether.
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Meanwhile, Roofe scored his first goal in the second minute after a neat build-up that initially involved James Tavernier and Connor Goldson.
After collecting a pass from Tavernier, Goldson put the ball on the path of Ryan Kent in the far left of the box, who then chipped it into the penalty box and found Roofe, who headed home the opener past Mirren’s Dean Lyness.
Rangers were dealt a huge injury blow in the 26th minute when John Lundstram came off and his place was filled by Steven Davis in the midfield. Just before the break, the visitors were forced to make another change as Filip Helander limped off and Leon King came on.
Despite the injury setbacks, Rangers scored their second goal in the fourth minute of added time in the first half. Tavernier delivered a clinical ball to the back post for Roofe to head home his second of the afternoon in the 50th minute.
Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo could have scored the third in the 51st minute, but he ended up shooting wide after he had been brilliantly spotted by Zambia’s Fashion Sakala.
A minute after Diallo failed to score, Roofe found the back of the net for his first hat-trick in Rangers colours.
An overworked Lyness in St Mirren's goal denied Tavernier with a close-range stop, but he conceded immediately when Aribo’s stunning, dipping long-range effort beat him in the 76th minute for Rangers’ fourth.
