Pedro Caixiha delighted with Rangers display
Boss Pedro Caixinha described Rangers' 3-0 Ladbrokes Premiership win at St Johnstone as the best collective performance of his tenure.
A Carlos Pena double and a late strike by Graham Dorrans gave the visitors a scoreline which was perhaps flattering.
The Govan side, however, certainly took advantage of the extra man when, at 1-0 in the second half, Saints skipper Steven Anderson was sent off by referee Don Robertson for picking up the second of two yellow cards, for a foul on Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos.
Caixinha, who took over at Ibrox in March, said: "I think it was the best collective performance since we arrived. Very compact, very addicted to the game plan.
"Everybody at the same time knew what they needed to do.
"Quality and keeping possessions, attacking spaces when it was needed - and fighting collectively and defensively.
"So it was the best collective performance. And the cherry on the top of the cake is a clean sheet.
"We want the team to perform like this all the time.
"We didn't give up spaces, didn't give freedom for them to counter attack.
"That is something we worked at very hard all week and the boys understood it very well."
The Portuguese coach believes the win sets his side up for the Betfred Cup semi-final against Motherwell at Hampden Park next Sunday - although first comes a break.
He said: "Of course. Now the moment is for the boys to enjoy - they're going to have three days off.
"So am I. I'm closing the store and not going to think about football.
"Tuesday and Wednesday, we have all the information on Motherwell and will work on that.
"The desire is there in both teams to win. The opponents will be tough."
St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright was "really happy" with the display but not the outcome with Anderson's dismissal pivotal.
He said: "I thought up to 70 minutes were slightly the better side.
"They put one cross in the box in the first- alf and we should deal with it better.
"We had numerous opportunities getting behind them but the final ball or finish wasn't good enough and up until the sending off we were dominant although they were still getting us on the counter.
"The red card totally changes the game.
"I have seen the first yellow card and if there is a level of consistency there should be a dozen yellow cards at corners kicks.
"Steven Anderson backs into Bruno Alves which he is entitled to do and he pulls him out of the way so he is the aggressor.
"Ando is then blocked and the referee decides it is two yellows when probably he could give them a warning.
"The second yellow, Ando should know better, he gets caught wrong side, there is minimum touch on him but Morelos is going to go down and he does and the referee had no option but to send him off.
"And with the quality Rangers have they created a few opportunities that enabled them to increase their lead to 3-0"