Rangers escaped with all three points as VAR became the difference between the sides: giving the hosts a goal yet denying Livi a penalty for a blatant handball.

Mohamed Diomande’s late winner was initially deemed offside but overturned on review, with the visitors initially claiming goalkeeper Jerome Prior was fouled before the ball broke into the Ibrox midfielder’s path.

Emmanuel Fernandez’s thumping early header was levelled when Tete Yengi raced clear to score his first of the season before the striker was controversially denied a penalty when the ball struck Fernandez’s arm minutes later.

Victory moves the Ibrox side to within nine points of leaders Hearts, having played the same number of games.

This was controversial and Livingston will no doubt feel aggrieved. David Martindale’s side looked on course for a third draw in a row, but the late concession left them a point adrift of Dundee at the bottom with just a solitary league win.

Rohl spoke of improvement and confidence in his squad. Injuries to John Souttar and Derek Cornelius meant a centre-back pairing of Nasser Djiga and the rarely-seen Emmanuel Fernandez.

The latter made an instant impact with a perfectly-timed run that was finished with a towering header in off the crossbar. The perfect start for Rangers and him on just his second league start.

However, a procession to a straightforward three points didn’t materialise as Livingston fought back and looked strong.

Yengi exposed Rangers’ centre-backs and ran clear, coolly finishing under Jack Butland to level. Shortly after, it was so nearly worse for the home side.

Yengi saw his close-range shot divert off Fernandez’s arm. It was on target, but a foul wasn’t given. The guidance from VAR HQ was that the defender’s arm was deemed to be in a natural position and the ball to be struck from close range.

Martindale and his team will likely disagree with that judgement. It was a crucial call that will likely be dissected, not least given referee Ross Hardie was not called over to the monitor to review.

As the game wore on, Livingston were comfortable for the large part.

Djeidi Gassama somehow missed on the counter before Yengi was superbly denied when clean in on Jack Butland.

In the dying seconds of injury time, substitute Robbie Muirhead fired just over as Diomande’s late, controversial, tap-in ultimately proved the difference.

Match report: Martin Dowden

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