Glasgow Rangers won 2-1 in today's Premiership clash at Ibrox in what was a hard-earned three points from the Light Blues.

It didn’t take long for Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side to get into their groove, scoring their first goal since beating Queen of the South 3-1 on 30 August, with Antonio Colak netting a birthday goal following some excellent play by James Tavernier to win the ball back and progress the length of the pitch to set up the Croatian.

This intensity with which Rangers began against Dundee United with slowly faded and the play became slow and predictable - it wasn’t until Colak netted again just after the break.

A Dundee United goal with half an hour remaining had the Ibrox faithful feeling slightly nervy but the home side held out and secured a crucial three points, clinching their first victory since August.

Colak was the goalscoring maestro today, but it was Rangers captain James Tavernier who once again stepped up to the plate and delivered when it mattered most.

Tavernier was Rangers' real hero today

The 30-year-old doesn’t shy away from anything and the pressure before today's match would have been intense. His excellent work rate to dispose Ian Harkes and run 60 yards with the ball before setting up Colak for the opening goal was described as “brilliant” by Rangers Review journalist Joshua Barrie.

Jonny McFarlane, also of the Rangers Review, gave the captain a match rating of 7 out of ten and stated that his part in the first goal “was Tavernier at his best”, and he appears to be over whatever knock has affected him in recent weeks.

The right-back received a rating of 8/10 on SofaScore - the second highest in Van Bronckhorst's team, just behind Colak at 8.1. Tavernier took 125 touches during the match, ten more than any other Gers player.

He won 82% of his duels and made four tackles and two clearances, but it was the right-back's attacking figures which were most impressive.

Tavernier created one big chance, made three key passes and succeeded with two of his three dribble attempts, showing that when the manager gives him free rein down the right-hand side, he almost acts like a full-blown winger rather than a defender.

This was a vital win for Van Bronckhorst and Rangers, and although it was perhaps nervier than it should have been, adding three points onto the board will be mighty important heading into the international break.