Premier League
August 29, 2009
Rangers
4 - 1
Hamilton Academical
Premier League
15:00 BST, August 29, 2009
Ibrox Stadium, Scotland
Referee: Steve O'Reilly
Whittaker and Boyd double
Scoring Summary
| Rangers | Hamilton Academical |
|---|---|
| Steven Whittaker (19') | Mark McLaughlin (87') |
| Kris Boyd (27') | |
| Kris Boyd (65') | |
| Steven Whittaker (67') |
Teams
| Rangers | Hamilton Academical |
|---|---|
| 1 Allan McGregor | 1 Tomas Cerny |
| 3 David Weir | 4 Martin Canning |
| 16 Steven Whittaker | 6 Mark McLaughlin |
| 5 Sasa Papac | 3 Luis Manuel Bejar Rubiales |
| 24 Madjid Bougherra | 23 Kevin Welsh |
| 6 Lee McCulloch | 34 Gary Mason |
| 7 Steven Davis | 27 Simon Mensing |
| 4 Pedro Mendes | 8 James McArthur |
| 9 Kris Boyd | 7 James Wesolowski |
| 18 Kenny Miller | 11 Derek Lyle |
| 14 Steven John Naismith | 21 Marco Paixao |
| Substitutes | |
| 25 Neil Alexander | Sean Murdoch 19 |
| 26 Steven Smith | Marvin Andrews 15 |
| 75 Greg Wylde | David Elebert 25 |
| 20 DaMarcus Beasley | Grant Evans 12 |
| 67 Jamie Ness | David Louhoungu 14 |
| 10 Nacho Novo | Kyle Wilkie 33 |
| 29 John Fleck | Leon Knight 26 |
| Substitutions | |
| Nacho Novo for Steven John Naismith (73) | David Louhoungu for Kevin Welsh (46) |
| Greg Wylde for Kenny Miller (81) | Leon Knight for Marco Paixao (56) |
| Kyle Wilkie for Gary Mason (77) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Leon Knight (90) | |
| · Squads: Rangers | Hamilton Academical | |
Steven Whittaker and Kris Boyd helped themselves to a double apiece as Rangers romped to a comfortable 4-1 win over Hamilton in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
The pair both netted either side of half-time to ensure the Scottish champions remain at the summit with a 100% record.
Accies did manage to pull a goal back late on through Mark McLaughlin, however their dismal start to the season continues as they remain bottom of the SPL having already conceded 10 goals.
Boyd's last-gasp winner from the penalty spot against Hearts last week earned him a starting role along with Pedro Mendes, who made his first appearance of the season after recovering from a thigh strain.
Accies made three changes from the side who suffered a shock Co-operative Insurance Cup exit to Ross County in midweek. In came new signing Gary Mason, Derek Lyle and Kevin Welsh; out went Izzy Iriekpen, Grant Evans and Leon Knight as Hamilton searched for their first win of the season.
The visitors could have been forgiven for heading into this game with a sense of trepidation. As well as their poor start to the season, they also shipped an astonishing 18 goals in their five meetings with Rangers last term.
Rangers immediately piled on the pressure with Steven Davis racing onto a long ball from Mendes and surging into the box only for his first effort to be blocked by goalkeeper Tomas Cerny and his second attempt rippling the side-netting.
The Northern Ireland international then had another decent chance when he found himself clear on goal a few moments later only to sidefoot a weak shot into the arms of the Accies goalkeeper.
Hamilton found themselves trailing after 19 minutes and Davis was involved once again, setting up Whittaker to coolly slot past the helpless Cerny as Ibrox erupted.
Rangers doubled their advantage with 27 minutes gone when a Sasa Papac cross was inadvertently nodded back into the packed goalmouth by Simon Mensing and Boyd was waiting to send a looping header into the back of the net.
The match could have been over within seconds of the restart when Kenny Miller whipped an inviting ball across the face of goal to Madjid Bougherra at the far post but he hooked harmlessly over.
The defender was then fuming at the other end of the pitch when referee Stevie O'Reilly deemed he had fouled Luis Rubiales on the edge of the box and handed Accies the opportunity to apply some pressure of their own.
Allan McGregor managed to block from Lyle's free-kick but the goalkeeper was left flapping at a cross from James McArthur before his defence eventually cleared the danger.
Any hopes of an Accies comeback were dashed after 65 minutes when Davis found Steven Naismith out on the left and his cut-back was met by Boyd who lashed home from 10 yards.
Not to be outdone, Whittaker grabbed his second of the day in style just two minutes later. He played a one-two with Davis before dispatching a terrific curving shot past Cerny from 22 yards.
With the three points already in the bag, Rangers had the luxury of making a couple of changes in the latter stages.
Nacho Novo was given his first taste of action this season after missing the opening two matches with a dislocated shoulder, before youngster Gregg Wylde was handed his first-team debut when he replaced Miller for the final 10 minutes.
Hamilton did manage to pull a goal back with three minutes to go when McLaughlin nodded home from a Rubiales corner but it was scant consolation for a team still looking to put points on the board this season.