Sergio Porrini and Stefan Klos shared the limelight as ten-man Rangers stayed in pole position.

Goalkeeper Klos was given his debut after arriving for £700,000 on Christmas Eve from Borussia Dortmund, but Porrini was the match-winner with his first goal of the season.

The Italian defender struck in the 71st minute after Colin Hendry had been sent off early in the second half after deliberately handling on the goal-line.

John O'Neil missed the resulting spot-kick and Saints boss Sandy Clark declared: "I can't believe we lost it today. We were so near. I don't think there will ever be a better opportunity to beat Rangers.

"There were no plusses as far as I'm concerned because all our wounds are self-inflicted."

Niemi unhappy

Rangers coach Dick Advocaat resolved his goalkeeping dilemma by throwing Klos into action straight away at the expense of Finnish international Antti Niemi.

Hendry returned after shaking off the ankle injury which forced him to miss the 3-2 win over Hearts, while the visitors had Gary Bolland back from suspension.

Sleet was falling as the match kicked off but Rangers were almost in front within a minute as Rod Wallace whipped a shot over the bar after Stephane Guivarc'h had fed Andrei Kanchelskis on the wing.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst brought a good save from Alan Main with an 18-yard effort and Wallace hit the side-netting as the home side maintained the pressure.

Main was called into action again four minutes before the break when Barry Ferguson attempted a delicate chip after receiving the ball from Porrini on the edge of the penalty area.

Hendry sees red

The tide turned in St Johnstone's favour in the 48th minute when Hendry was dismissed for providing an illegal second line of defence after Klos was beaten by Paddy Connolly's shot.

Porrini: A rare goal

O'Neil stepped up for the penalty but his effort rattled the crossbar and the chance was gone.

Klos made his first save from a Nick Dasovic header, before Rangers brought on recent £1.6m signing Neil McCann in place of the limping Kanchelskis.

Saints created another opportunity when O'Neil played a good ball to the far post but Gerard McMahon could not direct his shot on target at full stretch and four minutes later they fell behind when Porrini fired home the only goal of the game.

"I thought we played reasonably well. St Johnstone had so many men behind the ball and it was quite difficult for us," home boss Advocaat said afterwards.

He side-stepped Niemi's likely response to losing his place to Klos by adding: "There is no sense in discussing the matter with a player when you drop him. He will only disagree with you.

"I thought Klos did well and you can see he is a quality goalkeeper."

Rangers: Klos, Porrini, Amoruso, Hendry, Ferguson, Kanchelskis,Van Bronckhorst, Albertz, Guivarc'h, Wallace, Vidmar. Subs: Amato, McCann, Wilson, Miller, Brown.

St Johnstone: Main, McQuillan, Dasovic, Kernaghan, O'Neil, Kane, McMahon, Connolly, Bollan, McAnespie, Dods. Subs: Grant, Griffin, Robertson, Lowndes, Simao.