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The Perth club has never won a major trophy in its 114- year history and, although the supporters would have enjoyed the day out, they would have enjoyed it a lot more had their been an end result.Rangers will take this result into the next part of their season with both the League and the Uefa Cup in mind and although there is no European reward at the end these days for the League Cup winners, the win will give them a huge lift.Advocaat said: “I felt no pressure to win, I don’t know why. Walter Smith did a great job for Rangers, but that is the past, and it’s not counting any more.”We had problems building up from the back and giving the ball away early on, but then it was a real Cup game with not many chances for either team. This is an important win for us that hopefully will have a positive effect. I was never really concerned and we are still involved in all the other competitions.”Clark said: “I felt in the second-half we came right back into it and I believe we have now laid the 7-0 game to rest and showed that on a level playing field we can compete.”Goals: Guivarc’h (6) 1-0; Dasovic (7) 1-1; Albertz (36) 2-1.Rangers (4-4-2): Niemi; Porrini, Amoruso, Hendry, Newman; Kanchelskis, B Ferguson, Van Bronckhorst, Albertz (I Ferguson, 64); Guivarch (Durie, 88), Wallis. Substitutes not used: Vidmar.St Johnstone (4-4-2): Main; McQuillan, Dods, Kernaghan, Bollan; Scott, Dasovic, Kane, O’Neil (Preston, 88); O’Boyle (Lowndes, 73), Simao (Grant, 85).Referee: H Dallas (Motherwell).Booking: St Johnstone: Dasovic.Man of the match: Dasovic.Attendance: 45,533..

HERNAN CRESPO, the Argentinian World Cup striker, scored twice as Parma put their Italian Serie A title challenge back on track with a 4-0 home win over Milan yesterday. The champions, Juventus, slumped to a surprise 3-0 defeat at in-form Bologna while the league leaders, Fiorentina, endured a 0-0 stalemate at Bari – their first draw of the season.
At the Tardini stadium Enrico Chiesa made amends for an early miss to put Parma ahead in the 25th minute, turning home the loose ball after Sebastiano Rossi had failed to hold Dino Baggio’s fierce shot from outside the area.Within 11 minutes, Milan were 2-0 down as Crespo touched the ball over the advancing Rossi, and Crespo struck again 14 minutes after the break, a downward header punishing some slack defending. Alain Boghossian, the French World Cup midfielder, completed Milan’s humiliation in stoppage time with his first goal since joining Parma from Sampdoria in the summer.Juventus struggled from the start at Bologna’s Dall’Ara stadium. Michele Paramatti was left unmarked in the third minute to head home Giuseppe Signori’s free-kick. Five minutes later, the Croat Igor Tudor failed to clear Kennet Andersson’s header and the rejuvenated Signori pounced to claim his fifth goal of the season.Juve’s nightmare start was completed in the 28th minute by Davide Fontolan, who first robbed Ciro Ferrara on the halfway line before exchanging passes with Andersson, dribbling round Mark Iuliano and beating the goalkeeper with a neatly placed shot.After the break, Francesco Antonioli saved brilliantly from Filippo Inzaghi on two occasions as Bologna celebrated their first home success over Juve in 24 years. They are also unbeaten in 16 league and cup matches, while Juventus who are without a win in any competition since losing their top striker Alessandro Del Piero with ligament damage.Internazionale scored twice in the last 15 minutes to defeat Salernitana 2-1. David di Michele had given the lowly visitors a deserved half-time lead before the Argentinian pair Diego Simeone and Javier Zanetti saved Inter with goals in the 76th and 90th minutes.In Spain, Atletico Madrid spoiled the Barcelona party on Saturday as they battled their way to a 1-0 Spanish League victory on the night the Catalan club kicked off their centenary year celebrations.A Vladimir Jugovic penalty six minutes before half-time proved enough to give Atletico their first away victory of the season and leave Barca fans voicing their dismay on an emotional night for the club, which was founded in 1899.Celta Vigo, Liverpool’s Uefa Cup opponents, were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia.

The Galicians had looked set for victory as they recoverd from Romania’s Gabriel Popescu’s 23rd minute opener with goals either side of half-time from Alexander Mostovoi and Juan Sanchez. But a superb strike from another Romanian international, Adrian Ilie, who blasted in from the edge of the area, secured a point for the visitors.A header by Savo Milosevic, the former Aston Villa forward, after six minutes proved enough to give Real Zaragoza a 1-0 win at home to Oviedo.In Germany, a Tony Yeboah hat-trick put an end to Hamburg’s indifferent run of six games without a win. The former Leeds United striker was the star of Hamburg’s 3-0 victory over struggling Borussia Monchengladbach. The Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich, cruised to a 2-0 home win over Nuremberg with goals by Giovane Elber and Bixente Lizarazu..

FOOTBALL CAN be a perverse game. Just as the appointment of a caretaker manager has had a typically galvanising effect on Wolverhampton Wanderers, so the confirmation of job security after four unbeaten games brought Colin Lee his first defeat in charge of the Molineux club. Even with Lee Hughes, the country’s leading goalscorer, failing to break his derby duck – the 22-goal striker has yet to score against Wolves, Birmingham or Aston Villa – West Bromwich Albion were able to claim a third successive victory over their keenest rivals thanks to two second- half goals.
The first, a fulminating 20-yard drive into the top corner from Kevin Kilbane, was a brilliant goal and that inspired Albion to manage a first clean sheet in seven games. Shaun Murphy’s close- range finish guaranteed the victory that took Denis Smith’s team to within two points of Wolverhampton in the chasing pack behind the First Division front-runners.”At half-time the gaffer had a little bit of a pop at me, saying I had to get myself going,” Kilbane, the Northern Ireland winger, said. “So I was just delighted to strike that one well and I enjoyed the second half.”Wolves did not share his enjoyment.

With the news of Lee’s appointment as manager until the end of the season still less than 24 hours old, his players looked set in the first period to continue whence they left off after the emotive comeback against Birmingham seven days earlier.In the first period Wolves broke through the defence almost at will. Guy Whittingham’s volley was headed off the line by Jason Van Blerk while five minutes before the interval Paul Holmes cleared David Connolly’s shot off the line after Simon Osborn’s defence-splitting pass.But immediately after the break Keith Curle, who last year scored the own goal here that won Albion the day, fouled Hughes just outside the penalty area.After Mario Bortolazzi back-heeled the free-kick into his path, Kilbane sent a powerful rising drive past Mike Stowell.The Wolves goalkeeper felt he had been impeded from Bortolazzi’s 61st- minute corner but Murphy was in no mood to await any decision as he shinned the ball home from close range.”Although we didn’t play particularly well in the first half, in a local derby like this the result is all that matters,” said Smith, the Albion manager.Lee said: “In any game the only thing that counts is the result.”We’ve lost three points this afternoon, albeit against a team every single person in Wolverhampton wants to beat. Every single game we enter into we want to win.”Goals: Kilbane (46) 1-0, Murphy (61) 2-0West Bromwich Albion: Miller; Holmes, Murphy, Carbon, Van Blerk; Quinn (Sneekes, 77), Flynn, Bortolazzi, Kilbane; Evans (De Freitas, 77), Hughes. Substitute not used: Angel.Wolverhampton Wanderers: Stowell; Richards, Curle, Sedgley; Muscat, Robinson (Niestron, 63), Osborn, Naylor; Connolly, Whittingham, Keane (Corica, 63). Substitute not used: Emblen.Referee: G Laws (Whitley Bay).Bookings: West Bromwich: Van Blerk, Kilbane Carbon.