You can never ignore the optics in Glasgow. One side of the Old Firm is always up while the other is down and as Celtic dropped points at Pittodrie before Livingston’s visit to Ibrox yesterday, perception was right at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

Rangers, eight points behind when Philippe Clement arrived, can go level at the top of the Scottish Premiership if they win a game in hand. Nobody, least of all Clement, is getting overexcited. The manager's narrative within the dressing room is one of a marathon, not a sprint. But in a footballing city of inevitable daily comparison, yesterday was a good 24 hours for Rangers.

That’s not to say the 3-0 win over David Martindale’s side was achieved without any anxiety. It took an inswinging corner to eventually create the opener and a second from Rabbi Matondo soon after to get rid of the palpable feeling on and off the pitch that screamed ‘Just find a way to win’.

These games, contrary to the form table, are not always easy. Livingston camped around their box and slowed the tempo wherever possible. They had no shots on goal on or off target. The game became an exercise in attack versus defence from the first whistle.

The fact that the opener would come from an inswinger was a positive because at either end Clement’s side have not made the most of these opportunities recently. The scorer was also encouraging. Fabio Silva, in his second league start, impressed and found a way after Shamal George had punched the away from goal to convert.

There’s been a growing narrative since Silva signed that he is ‘Not a No.9’. It’s a point which, well, misses the point. He’s a certain type of forward, yes, one who by his own admission doesn’t only want to occupy the box and add the finishing touches but involve himself in the process of creating chances too. And at times he’ll likely play off a central striker or rotate out for the in-form Cyriel Dessers. Equally, Silva did score 16 goals across the Dutch and Belgian leagues last season.

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Clement wanted this deal to happen for a reason. After Nils Koppen presented the possibility of a loan move for Silva to the Ibrox board a week before Christmas, Rangers moved fast to secure the signing. Zoom conversations between Clement and the player were said to be key by sources on both sides of the deal.

Silva went close to a second with an acrobatic effort, showing pace throughout on and off the ball to press and test the visiting defence. There were clever flicks and links outside the box and strong play facing his own goal. Perhaps, while we’re all still working out exactly what type of player Silva is, after two league starts we can be confident he’s a good one.

“There are still a lot of things to improve, but that is normal,” Clement said when quizzed on Silva’s performance post-match.

“He needs to get a connection with the other players, understand better where to run, when to do what. I am very pleased about the way he stepped into the building, working hard every day in training.

“He wants to learn, he wants to become better and you see already flashes of his talent. He is not yet at his top, top level but we knew that because he didn’t play many minutes and he didn’t know his teammates or the way we want to play football.

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“With playing more minutes and making more trainings, he will grow in that. I am happy that I have, for the moment, two strikers who are really hungry to do what they have to do for the team and that is not only scoring goals.”

Arguably the two other scorers were also on the list of those who could’ve done with a goal. Rabbi Matondo is being handed his chance by Clement and while the Welsh winger continues to frustrate supporters in some moments his goal was a reminder of the quality on show in others.

Matondo isn’t a winger who always feels a natural fit against low blocks. We saw, in contrast, the threat posed in transition against PSV, St Johnstone and more under Michael Beale last year. The task for Matondo to be a starter is picking his moments. All the best wingers do just this. Especially in a game like yesterday's with such limited space, the lines between risk and retention in possession are often blurred. Matondo was guilty of bringing one move in particular on the break to a standing start with the game at 0-0 after clever link-up between Cantwell and Silva. What he did well was vary his method of attack, however. The slightest sighting of space on the inside to find the far corner was only cranked open by repeated dashes to the byline beforehand.

Todd Cantwell’s intervention to add a third is exactly what’s expected of him in games of this nature. Receiving on the half turn the No.13 slid into a front-facing position in one motion and found a forward pass before converting Ross McCausland’s perfect cutback. It was his third league goal in four 2024 starts.

This was a weekend where the momentum, overall, pushed in Rangers’ favour. Being in a title race in February means nothing as Clement pointed out speaking after the game. There’s a tough task against Aberdeen on Tuesday which again falls into the must-win bracket but the energy and mood which felt so downcast months ago is now so much brighter. Clement has done something these past few months which felt as far away as silverware when he arrived by breathing hope into this season and squad.

“The synergy with the fans…” he continued on his own accord post-match.

“We talked about the moment we stepped into the building that it was a major thing to get it back and to play in an atmosphere like that is a joy to be a football player or manager."

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Coming out of the recent transfer window the question on Twitter timelines and messageboards was ‘Do Rangers have enough goals in their team’? Will Oscar Cortes, brought on for his debut, Silva and Mohamed Diomande offer sufficient quality to a season sparked with potential?

There’s still a question mark as to whether Clement’s side have the quality in the final third to maximise the potential of this season. Will the January window be looked back upon as a success? We’ll only know in May but even then, consideration must be given to the fact that Clement, Koppen and co are trying to restructure a recruitment policy mid-season following a manager-led summer search.

Just like on the park, the Belgian is making the best of what he has and building momentum having inherited a puzzling situation. This was another weekend in which Clement found solutions. 

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