The Scottish Premier League got off to a cracking start as Glasgow Rangers helped themselves to a confidence-boosting 3-0 win over Highlands club Inverness thanks to a Nacho Novo goal sandwiched between a Barry Ferguson double.

It was a game in which former PSV Eindhoven and Chicago Fire winger DaMarcus Beasley made his competitive debut in Rangers' blue, and he'll be forced to wait before receiving a chance to enthrall the home fans at Ibrox again until a clash with St. Mirren on August 11th.

The American international tried to open his account early on, but after evading the defense, found a stern tight angle test in Inverness keeper.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Lee McCulloch's nifty touch found Ferguson in space, and the club captain volleyed his effort in off the post from the edge of the box.

In the minutes following, Chris Boyd was amazingly denied by the crossbar, while Beasley's underpowered effort eroded a good chance.

McCulloch played setup-man again in the 64th minute, this time sending Nacho Novo through for the 2-0.

With the contest all but decided, Ferguson took advantage of a defensive lapse to add a second on the fringes of stoppage time.

The win sends Rangers to second in the league on goal differential, but they'll have to put that out of mind for the time being, with Tuesday's Champions League qualifier at Serbian side FK Zeta quickly approaching.

Scoring
RAN - Barry Ferguson 1 (Lee McCulloch) 16'
RAN - Nacho Novo (Lee McCulloch) 64'
RAN - Barry Ferguson 2 90'

Line-ups
ICT - Michael Fraser; Ross Tokely, Stuart McCaffrey, Grant Munro, Richard Hastings, Roy McBain (Richard Hart 70'), Barry Wilson, Ian Black, Rory McAllister (Don Cowie 62'), Dennis Wyness, John Rankin (Dean McDonald 77')

RNG - Alan McGregor; Alan Hutton, Carlos Cuellar, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Kevin Thomson, Barry Ferguson, Brahim Hemdani, Lee McCulloch, Kris Boyd (Nacho Novo 49'), DaMarcus Beasley