Substitute Jean-Claude Darcheville was the hero for Rangers as he struck in the last minute to beat Inverness 1-0 and re-establish a four-point lead over Celtic at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Rangers thought they should have taken the lead 17 minutes earlier when a Charlie Adam goal was controversially ruled out as Daniel Cousin was deemed to be standing in an offside position.
Adam then sent a powerful drive crashing off the top of the Inverness crossbar but there was still time for Darcheville to pounce and secure a hard-fought victory over a spirited home side.
Rangers may have been desperate to ensure the day did not end with Celtic sitting within touching distance of them at the top of the table, but such urgency was not evident in the opening period.
The game was played at a plodding pace, not aided by a scruffy playing surface and awkward wind.
To his credit Marius Niculae attempted to inject a spark into proceedings in the 13th minute when he sent an ambitious volley over the top of Allan McGregor's goal.
The Rangers response saw Cousin receive a pass from Steven Whittaker and show good strength in spinning past Grant Munro before shooting off target.
Finally the game was starting to heat up, albeit only in brief spells, and McGregor was soon forced to race from his line and thwart a surge forward by Markus Paatelainen after the Finn had done well to control a pass from Richard Hastings.
There was a nervous moment for Rangers in the 27th minute when Carlos Cuellar's tackle on Don Cowie saw the ball rebound off the Inverness midfielder and roll menacingly towards goal.
Fortunately for the visitors though, McGregor was alive to the danger and raced back to smother the ball.
At the other end of the park, Michael Fraser then became far busier as he saved a header from Cousin and made an even better block three minutes prior to the interval.
Steven Naismith fed a pass straight into the path of the advancing Whittaker but the right-back could not force his shot from an acute angle past Fraser, who made a strong stop at his near post.
The resulting corner saw Inverness hit Rangers on the counter attack, although once again the end product was poor as Russell Duncan volleyed harmlessly over from Cowie's cross.
Rangers tried to lift their game by bringing on Darcheville for the under-par Naismith during the interval and that decision ultimately paid dividends.
Darcheville looked sprightly after joining Cousin up front and, after latching onto Adam's measured pass, the Frenchman launched a searing shot towards goal that flashed over.
Rangers made use of route one football for their next attack, as McGregor found Adam with his lengthy kick and the midfielder's volley had just too much height on it.
Caley Thistle had not offered much going forward following the restart, but in the 68th minute Niculae was only denied what would have been an outstanding goal by an acrobatic stop from McGregor, who demonstrated impressive agility in parrying a powerful 30-yard drive.
Adam had struggled to make an impact but with 18 minutes remaining the midfielder came to the fore as he was involved in an extremely contentious incident when he beat Fraser from a tight angle, only for the goal to be chalked off due to Cousin's involvement.
Adam's afternoon continued to be a tale of bad luck as he then smashed a shot off the bar.
But Rangers were not to be denied the victory and Darcheville was cool in front of goal as he got in behind the Inverness defence to place a low effort past the exposed Fraser.
Tokely had a late chance to restore parity, but his shot was wild as Rangers ground out what could prove to be a crucial three points in the championship race.
Teams
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook