Walter Smith was sent to the stand and Rangers and
Kilmarnock were both reduced to 10 men as they battled out an explosive
goalless draw in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Pedro Mendes was dismissed shortly before half-time -
the third Rangers player to see red this season after Kevin Thomson and
Madjid Bougherra - and Smith's complaints earned him a seat in the Rugby
Park stand.
Manuel Pascali then followed Mendes down the tunnel
late in the game, with neither side able to find the goal that would seal
the three points.
David Weir recovered from the ankle injury which kept
him out of the Champions League clash in Stuttgart to take his place in
the heart of defence, with Lee McCulloch again deployed as a makeshift
centre-back, this time filling in for the suspended Bougherra.
Smith
admitted in his pre-match press conference he was unhappy with Rangers'
start to the season and had hoped their second-half efforts in Germany
would act as the catalyst for their domestic campaign. He was wrong.
Mirroring last week's early kick-off at Motherwell,
Rangers appeared lacklustre once again and it was Kilmarnock who carved
out the first chance of the game when Craig Bryson picked out the towering
figure of Conor Sammon in front of goal.
He tried his luck with a downward header from close
range but the striker was foiled in his efforts to claim the opener by
goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who comfortably smothered in the Rangers goal.
Mendes then picked up a harsh yellow card - which would
prove costly later on - for clipping the heels of Bryson but Killie failed
to capitalise on the resultant free-kick when McGregor came out to gather
a curving shot from Tim Clancy.
Rangers lacked any real creativity up front and Mendes
resorted to a long-range shot which fizzed past the post and did little to
trouble Mark Brown in the Killie goal.
Steven Naismith looked dangerous moments later when a
point-blank shot was blocked by the legs of Brown as the home side held
firm. He then ran onto a Steven Davis ball only to be denied by Brown, who
raced off his line to smother.
The game
erupted two minutes from the interval when Mendes picked up a second
yellow card for another foul on Bryson. The red card prompted a furious
response from boss Smith, who exchanged angry words with Sammon and was
then sent to the stand by referee Steve Conroy as he continued to
remonstrate in the dug-out.
After the restart, Danny Invincibile passed up a great
chance to open the scoring when his close-range header was blocked by
McGregor, before hooking the rebound over the crossbar when he looked
certain to leave the net bulging instead.
Killie continued to press and only the woodwork denied
Jamie Hamill, when his swerving effort crashed off the inside of the post
and back into play. Rangers managed to punt it back up the park, where
John Fleck was waiting to draw a decent block from Brown.
Kris Boyd had boasted an excellent record of 13 goals
in 12 games against his former club but this clearly was not going to be
his day and Rangers made a double change with an hour gone when Boyd and
Novo were withdrawn to make way for Thomson and Kenny Miller.
With nine minutes to go, Kilmarnock were also reduced
to 10 men when Pascali picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Davis.
Both sides were still searching for the goal which
would now almost certainly decide the game and McGregor did well to parry
a close-range volley from Sammon.
At the other end, Davis tried to play through Miller on
goal but Brown was first to the ball to claim possession before the
striker could pull the trigger.
The match ended devoid of goals but not without
incident, with seven cautions plus the two dismissals.
43 mins
