Four first-time goalscorers, a comfortable full-time scoreline and the first three points of Rangers’ league season.

Although yesterday’s 4-0 win over Livingston wasn’t as emphatic as a quick glance at the scoreline may suggest, Michael Beale admitted he’d look back on the tie satisfied after a “rough week behind the scenes” and opening day defeat against Kilmarnock fresh in the memory.

Sam Lammers had opened the scoring after 10 minutes, but it took the home side until the 78th for a second to arrive. Danilo’s first strike for the club was followed by Abdallah Sima and Kieran Dowell as the strength in depth Beale’s building made an impact from the bench.

The Rangers Review’s analysed the data, trends and graphs provided by our partners at StatsBomb in order to bring you a unique look back on yesterday’s fixture.

The sound of excitement in Rangers circles was palpable when the team lines dropped on Twitter at 1.45 on Saturday afternoon - Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin were to be joined in midfield by Jose Cifuentes. In a game of this nature, two forward-thinking No.8s either side of a No.6 in Raskin more than capable of creating chances himself improved the hosts’ fluency of attack. Yes, they slowed down after Cifuentes saw a debut goal chopped off and stagnated in the second half, but the signs for good spells of the first 45 were positive.

Take a look at Rangers’ passing network below. Cantwell continued in the free, deeper midfield role from the left we saw him excel in during Wednesday’s win over Servette, while Cifuentes offered vertical forward runs and attacking balance starting slightly higher on the right. Although it took the introduction of pace, and Danilo moving centrally, for the attacking play to really click, the home side's midfield carried a necessary attacking balance for games of this nature.

Cifuentes was positive and forward-thinking with his actions, often looking to find James Tavernier or cut through the pitch vertically. His passes and carries from the match are highlighted below.

Lammers’ opener was a good example of the fluid, interchanging football Beale wants his teams to play.

It starts with a Cantwell receiving the ball deep on the left touchline, where he’s able to drive onto his right foot and play inside the pitch as Rangers move from left to right. Keep an eye on Lammers and Cantwell’s positioning in particular.

Cifuentes drops to receive the ball as Tavernier charges forwards, playing the ball to his right-back who finds the feet of Lammers, with the Dutchman turning quickly to face play. While he does, Cantwell arrives on cue, into the space Lammers had occupied only moments ago.

Rather than playing directly into the feet of Dessers, Cantwell dummies the ball and continues his run, receiving a pass from the No.9 which allows him to take the ball in his stride and test the goalkeeper, with Lammers making up good ground to arrive at the edge of the box and convert.

It was a nice team goal demonstrating some key principles of play; unpredictability and fluidity in the midfield’s positioning, the establishment of relationships to make a dummy pass and third-man run between Lammers, Dessers and Cantwell possible and multiple goalthreats attacking the box. Like the move to win an early penalty in midweek Rangers built play on the left, created space on the right and then attacked with numbers on that side of the box.

READ MORE: Todd Cantwell's Rangers vs Servette showing busts 'best position' myth

The goal’s sequence and freezeframe are shown below. With bodies guarding the front post, Lammers’ chance only had a 0.14xG value. 0.78PSxG demonstrates that on the basis of his finish in this scenario, the shot would find the net 78 percent of the time.

After that point, Beale conceded his team became “stuffy” in their play. Some of their football appeared tense, with the need for a second goal apparent to ease nerves all around.

The game’s trendline, charting the chances created throughout the match, shows what was clear to the eye - it wasn’t until the introduction of Rabbi Matondo and Abdallah Sima with 20 minutes to go that high-quality chances started to appear regularly.

Matondo’s carries, attached below, twice took Rangers all the way up the pitch. Sima could’ve won a penalty after the winger’s first foray through the park, before Kieran Dowell’s wonder-strike took advantage of his pace displayed late on.

Matondo and Sima were effective subs, with the latter also adding drive on the right and the game’s third goal. As Livingston chased an equaliser, the duo provided an outlet to carry Rangers up the pitch that the starting front three lacked.

It also enabled Danilo to move into the central striker role, where his goal would derive from. Benefitting from an accurate Borna Barisic cross and moving off the back of Ayo Obileye, the Brazilian rose well to head home his first strike for the club.

As evidenced in the game’s shot map, Rangers found the right side of the box a key outlet for high-quality chances.

John Souttar was rightly awarded man of the match. He made an important interception on a cross with the game at 1-0 and routinely carried beyond pressure. His defensive action map, featuring 27/30 successful actions, is shown below - with seven aerial duels, 13 ball recoveries, 7 clearances and nine duels.

Although Livigston’s xG of 0.2 was very small, their PSxG of 0.61 demonstrates a couple of dangerous long shots Jack Butland was forced to handle. The big stopper earned his first clean sheet at the club keeping out two dangerous efforts from Andrew Shinnie.

“It's been a rough week behind the scenes so in terms of the players going into the first home game in the league in a season where we're under more than a little bit of pressure,” Beale concluded post-match.

“For the new guys this week they've probably rode every emotion. That's why at the end of the week when we pick the bones out of it, I'll be more positive than pessimistic.”

While this side remains a work in progress, winning is non-negotiable. Saturday showed reason for optimism after the opening weekend’s defeat.