THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLASGOW, Scotland — Rangers moved atop the Scottish Premier League standings with three games remaining Saturday following a 1-0 win over defending champion and rival Celtic.
Midfielder Steve Davis scored in the 37th minute at Ibrox to give Rangers 79 points, two more than Celtic, which is aiming for a fourth straight title.
“We were in a good position last year and we had a fixture pileup, which didn’t help us at all,” Rangers manager Walter Smith. “We don’t have that this year so we have to show that we have the ability to go on and take the championship.”
Rangers is at Hibernian on Wednesday before hosting Aberdeen next weekend and finishing the season at Dundee United on May 24.
It also plays Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final the following weekend.
Rangers had lost two and tied one of its three previous meetings with Celtic but took the lead following some good work down the left by Kenny Miller. The Scotland forward got the ball to the line and cut it back into the area, where Davis arrived to score with a first-time finish.
Celtic responded strongly, winning 71 per cent of possession in the 25 minutes immediately after halftime, but struggled to create scoring opportunities.
But Celtic needed a sliding challenge in the area from defender Gary Caldwell to deny Pedro Mendes a clear shooting chance to make it 2-0 with seven minutes left.
“We did enough to win a game of football, with a wee bit of luck on our side,” Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said.
Motherwell won 3-1 at St. Mirren, while last-place Falkirk missed the chance to close on the teams immediately above it when it drew 1-1 at Kilmarnock.