Five-star Rangers demolish ten-man Queen of the South to preserve perfect start

Rangers have thumped 10-man Queen of the South 5-1 in a top-of-the-table clash at Palmerston Park to preserve their high-flying start to the Scottish Championship.

Andy Halliday fired the visitors into a 1-0 half-time lead before Derek Lyle was dismissed for headbutting James Tavernier three minutes after the break.

Further goals from Martyn Waghorn - who netted two penalties - Jason Holt and Barrie McKay followed as the floodgates opened to allow the Gers to maintain their perfect start to the season with maximum points.

With both sides boasting a 100% record after three games, something had to give but the pair cancelled each other out during an evenly-contested first 20 minutes.

The first chance fell to Rangers as defender Lee Wallace latched on to McKay's through ball before skewing just wide of Robbie Thomson's goal.

Mark Warburton's side grew in control of the clash from there and found the breakthrough on 27 minutes when Halliday deftly finished McKay's pass.

The hosts struggled to fashion clear-cut chances, with Alex Harris's outside-of-the-box effort testing Wes Foderingham but it was not enough to earn parity before the break.

It went from bad to worse for the hosts within seven minutes of the restart, with Lyle sent off before Waghorn dispatched a penalty when Andy Dowie fouled Dominic Ball.

Just before the hour mark, it was three when Holt latched on to a cross from Gedion Zelalem - on loan from Arsenal - to finish past Thomson at the second time of asking.

McKay got in on the rout on 65 minutes, before Waghorn added a fifth with another penalty for what was Rangers' 14th goal of the season already.

Aidan Smith gave the home fans something to cheer on 81 minutes by bursting through to slot past Foderingham, but it did little to take the shine off a free-scoring away performance.