Steven Gerrard praises Rangers after routine victory over Livingston | OneFootball

Steven Gerrard admitted to being generally pleased with what he saw as Rangers kicked off their defence of the Scottish premiership with a win over Livingston at Ibrox.

Ianis Hagi gave the hosts an early lead, but they needed late goals from substitutes Scott Wright and Kemar Roofe to put the game to bed.

“I am really happy with the performance for large parts. I thought we played with a lot of control – Jon [McLaughlin] has had a relatively quiet afternoon which is what we want here and we got the clean sheet and three good goals,” Gerrard told Rangers TV.

“I thought from when we took the lead to when we got the second goal, I thought we could have been better in terms of keeping that intensity up and keeping asking more questions of the opposition.

“I thought at times we were taking too many touches and we slowed our play down but from 0-1, until we took the lead, really good, really strong and we came out the blocks fast and then when the second goal came, I think it calmed us down and then we were excellent from that moment until the end.”

The result sets the Gers up nicely for Tuesday’s massive Champions League third round qualifier against Malmö.

Gerrard’s men will travel for the first leg before welcoming the Swedish side to Glasgow the following week.