I watched Motherwell vs Rangers from the press box: 3 things I spotted as hosts push foes towards crisis

Motherwell played out a 2-2 draw in a Premiership clash with Rangers.

Cyriel Dessers missed an early chance for Rangers in a warning shot that the visitors could not be taken lightly. Off the back of defeat to St Mirren they may have been and with a scribe likely to start scribbling writing on the wall for manager Philippe Clement, they still had a squad with quality well out of Motherwell's realm budget-wise.

Football isn't played on paper though and as the hosts began to take their defensive positions, Rangers looked ropey at the back. That was put on full show when a botched Robin Propper clearance hit off Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Tawanda Maswanhise playing the ball back into the striker's path to make it 1-0. Soon after with Rangers suffering what can only be described as a total head's gone first half, Maswanhise left James Tavernier wondering where he was.

As he was left in a daze, the tricky winger dispatched delightfully to give Motherwell a merited lead at the interval. They were in a rare position for any provincial club of having such command and control of a game against either side of the Old Firm and surely, surely, Rangers couldn't be as bad after half-time. Not if Clement didn’t want his job to be the talk of the Scottish football village.

A third, however, was likely needed to calm any Motherwell thoughts of losing such a position of authority. That third goal of the match came through Rangers’ Hamza Igamane after the visitors struck the post, the Moroccan only just on off the bench and his impact was telling. Vaclav Cerny, the other introduced, forced a good save off Aston Oxborough.

Chaos then ensued. A VAR check for a Lennon Miller tackle sparked fury from the Motherwell bench, home boss Stuart Kettlewell carded. He’d be seeing red from ref Kevin Clancy minutes later as rage continued just before a corner for his side and from that, Andy Halliday’s corner was bundled home off Butland. A foul was given and the goal didn’t stand. Tony Watt then struck off a set-piece, again, no goal this time through offside.

Next it was Rangers to strike and this one did count, with Motherwell looking out on their feet. Igamane was again the man to dig Rangers out a hole, firing beyond Oxborough and then Cerny was denied completing the comeback on the line by Ewan Wilson. Not striking a third goal of their own when they had the chances had came back to haunt the home team.

All that said, a point wouldn’t have been turned away instantly at the start of the game, but there may be a feeling of opportunity missed on both sides. At the end of the game, Motherwell are sixth in the table while Rangers remain in second. I was in the press box for the match. Here are three things I spotted.

Cup differences?

The last time these two met was at Hampden in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. A 2-1 defeat was inflicted on Motherwell by Rangers and similar to the first league game that ended by the same scoreline and winning victory, it was a game of those in blue trying to break down a dense claret and amber defence.

Then it was the job of those on the counter-attack for Kettlewell to try and catch Rangers with sucker punches. Haymakers were struck but it didn’t feel as if they ever put the Ibrox club out the game. As soon as the deficit was halved, energy was sapped and every disallowed goal drained more. Playing at Parkhead 72 hours beforehand wouldn't have helped fitness in the backend of this.

Halliday impresses

Somebody who is growing in importance to this Motherwell team is Andy Halliday. There’s always going to be more eyes on him in a fixture against his former club but again here like he has been in many of the past games, he’s managed matches from midfield. He buys fouls, plays nice passes and has taken some weight off Miller in terms of dictating games. Another good game from him here.

Injury worries

One thing Motherwell can’t afford is more injuries, even small knocks with games every few days. They are already missing key men and it was a positive sight to see Paul McGinn back in the matchday squad. But Miller and Stamatelopoulos going off here will cause concern, both vital players in this team. Missing them for any length of time could be costly.