Rangers took full advantage of Celtic’s loss to close to within five points of Hearts as they showed no hangover from an impressive 2-2 draw at Villarreal in the Europa League on Thursday.

Captain James Tavernier curled home a free kick to open the scoring before Alfredo Morelos doubled the hosts’ advantage at Ibrox.

Scott Arfield, Kyle Lafferty, and Daniel Candeias were also on target after the break, while Blair Alston scored a consolation for the Saints from the penalty spot.

After losing to Kilmarnock, Celtic are now six points behind early leaders Hearts.

“When you are a huge club, the demand is to win,” said Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve done that really well and playing in a style that is synonymous with the club. It hasn’t been the same, but we have to work to make it better.”