Rangers Defeat Motherwell Amid Injury Concerns
Ryan Naderi punished a calamitous defensive error to fire Rangers past Motherwell and up to second in the Scottish Premiership – on a night when Derek McInnes watched both a statement win and a potentially serious injury to his captain from the Ibrox stands.
McInnes in the stands, Shankland off early
Serving the second match of a two-game touchline ban for comments made last season while at Hearts, McInnes was forced into the role of spectator. His mood darkened quickly.
Barely nine minutes had gone when Lawrence Shankland, the focal point of Rangers’ attack and in strong early-season form, pulled up with what looked like an off-the-ball hamstring problem. He limped off, head down, replaced by Ryan Naderi.
Any sense of looming crisis lasted all of three minutes.
Naderi pounces on chaos
On 12 minutes, Motherwell completely lost their composure at the back. A couple of loose, nervy touches between the centre-backs saw the ball nudged back towards Alex Paulsen. The goalkeeper then made the worst possible choice.
Rather than clear, Paulsen tried to take on the onrushing Naderi at the edge of his box. The Rangers substitute read it, nicked the ball cleanly, and suddenly stared at an open goal. He rolled it in with ease. One of the simplest finishes he will ever have, one of the costliest errors Motherwell are likely to make all season.
From the stands, McInnes’ frustration at losing Shankland would have been tempered by the sight of his replacement delivering so quickly.
Pandur stands firm as Motherwell threaten
Motherwell, though, did not fold. Regan Charles-Cook forced Ivor Pandur into his first big save of the night on 16 minutes, the Rangers goalkeeper reacting sharply to beat away a driven effort.
Pandur had to rescue his side again just before the half-hour. A slick Motherwell counter ended with Alex Lowry bearing down on goal, only for the Rangers keeper to get down brilliantly to his right and turn the shot away.
The warning signs were there. Rangers controlled large spells, but Motherwell carried menace on the break.
Missed penalty turns the tide
The real turning point came on the half-hour.
Djeidi Gassama darted into the box to attack a Dan Neil cross and was wiped out by a clumsy challenge from Tom Sparrow. The referee pointed straight to the spot. With Shankland already off, responsibility fell to Minsu Kim.
He never looked settled. His run-up was tentative, his finish worse. The South Korean dragged his penalty wide of the post, Pandur rooted but unneeded. A huge chance gone.
Minsu’s night never quite recovered. Early in the second half he was denied again, Paulsen standing tall to block his effort before the rebound clipped the post. On another day he might have had a brace; here, he left with only regret.
Rangers waste chances to kill it
Rangers had their own reasons to be annoyed at the final scoreline. McInnes called it “more than the scoreline suggested” and he had evidence.
Nico Raskin saw an effort hacked off the line on 66 minutes with Paulsen beaten. Daisuke Yokota, introduced alongside Kevin Kelsy as McInnes turned to his bench, then sliced horribly wide with the goal gaping on 71 minutes.
Kelsy, making his Rangers debut, showed flashes of why the manager talked up the squad’s attacking depth. He found space, linked play, and then, on 74 minutes, had the chance to crown his first outing with a goal. From a promising position, he leaned back and sent his shot over the bar.
The pressure kept coming, the second goal never did.
Managers’ verdicts
From his vantage point in the stand, McInnes saw enough to be encouraged, even as he digested troubling news on Shankland.
“It looks like a significant hamstring injury and it might be a recurrence of the one he had at Hearts last season,” he admitted. “He’s a bit down about things and he might be out for a while.”
Yet he quickly shifted the focus to those who stepped in.
“I think Shankland has benefitted from the extra attacking impetus we’ve had. He was in good form but it’s all about the squad and players now need to step up. Kelsy was good on his debut and Naderi got his goal; we’ve got quality to lean on.
“It was a very strong performance; it was more than the scoreline suggested. We restricted a very good Motherwell team. I’m just annoyed and a bit frustrated that we didn’t add to our lead.”
On the opposite side, Alfred Johansson refused to hang Paulsen out to dry despite the decisive error.
“Congratulations to Rangers; they were the better team, they deserved the three points today,” the Motherwell boss said. “We didn’t play to our best today and they got the game they wanted. The game is there for us to do better, but we didn’t do it.
“Alex Paulsen is a great goalkeeper who has shown that again and again and again. He showed that today. The mistake isn’t even a point for me today.
“When I watch the video and when I show the video to my players they will see the potential. We are on a bad day creating a couple of chances, which could’ve made a big difference. Rangers will feel they should have at least two more and we stayed in the game so that’s a positive.”
Fine margins at Ibrox
In the end, one reckless moment from a usually reliable goalkeeper separated the sides.
Rangers climb to second, their manager serving a ban but seeing his squad depth answer an early crisis. Motherwell leave knowing they created enough to ask serious questions, yet still came up short.
If this is what Rangers look like while losing their captain and missing a string of chances, what happens when the finishing finally matches the control?
