Rangers remain on the heels of Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership table following a 4-1 comeback win over 10-man Kilmarnock but there was plenty of early concern for the home side at Ibrox.
Skipper James Tavernier scored an own goal after 12 minutes of a chaotic, incident-packed first half then had a penalty saved by Killie keeper Will Dennis after defender Joe Wright was sent off for the offending handball.
Rangers pounded the Kilmarnock penalty area and Portuguese forward Fabio Silva levelled in the last of eight added minutes at the end of the first half.
Second-half substitute Ben Davies scored his first Gers goal in the 62nd minute with substitute Tom Lawrence curling in a superb third 10 minutes later and defender John Souttar heading in a fourth in added time.
With just three fixtures remaining, the Light Blues are again three points behind leaders Celtic with an inferior goal difference of five ahead of the Old Firm game at Parkhead next Saturday, although Philippe Clement’s side should not be fooled by the win over a team who played so long with 10 players.
Celtic had applied some pressure to their city rivals with a convincing 3-0 win over Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday, where results elsewhere confirmed fourth-placed Killie would be playing European football next season.