Livingston 2-2 Rangers: Player ratings + talking points as Rohl's men rescue point with late fightback on day of high drama
How we rated the Rangers players in their 2-2 Scottish Premiership draw with basement boys Livingston in West Lothian
Rock-bottom Livingston were unable to withstand a rousing second-half fightback by Rangers as both sides played out an enthralling 2-2 Scottish Premiership draw in West Lothian.
The relegation-threatened hosts were on course to clinch their first league win since August 9th and a first victory over the Light Blues since September 2018 at half-time thanks to Brooklyn Kabongolo’s 14th-minute volleyed opener.
Lewis Smith added a second for the Lions early in the second half before Cristian Montano was sent off for a clumsy last-man challenge on Djeidi Gassama on the hour mark, leading to a dramatic momentum shift in the visitors’ favour.
Centre-half Emmanuel Fernandez thundered home from inside a crammed penalty box with nine minutes of regulation time left to play to halve the deficit before Tottenham loanee Mikey Moore nodded home an equaliser after 88 minutes to set up a grandstand finish at Almondvale.
Livingston had to soak up intense Rangers pressure during almost 12 minutes of injury-time, but try as they might, Danny Rohl’s men failed to come away with the three points they desperately craved.
Instead, it was two dropped in what is fast developing into one of the most gripping title race finale’s in history. And with Celtic losing at home to Hibs, the Ibrox club will know this was a huge opportunity missed to close the gap on leaders Hearts, who end the weekend four points clear at the summit.
Rangers had recovered 10 points from losing positions this season - only Dundee United have fared better - and they were staring defeat in the face against the league’s basement side after 55 minutes.
Had Livi been able to hold on, it would have marked one of the biggest upsets in top-flight history, but the challenge for Martin Bartley’s side became much tougher when full-back Montano was shown a straight red card for hauling down Gassama just outside the box.
However, the Govan giants found a way in the driving rain to claim what could turn out to be a valuable point come the season’s end courtesy of Fernandez’s 12-yard thunderbolt and Moore’s glancing header into the far corner.
There was a strong penalty appeal for Rangers in the closing stages when Moore was brought down on the edge of the area by Cammy Kerr, with TV replays suggesting the Livi defender didn’t make contact with the ball. However, after a lengthy VAR check, referee Ryan Lee allowed play to continue.
In truth, a share of the spoils doesn’t really suit either side. Livi are eight points adrift of second-bottom Kilmarnock, while Rangers move two clear of bitter rivals Celtic but fail to make inroads on the Jambos’ lead.
Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points and how the players fared:
Rangers stage late rally but no excuses for slip-up
Conceding twice at this stage of the campaign to the Premiership’s worst side did little to help Rangers title credentials on what proved to be another dramatic day in the top-flight.
The visitors should’ve had enough quality to see off this Livingston team, so there are no excuses for slipping up on their travels at a venue that saw three out of the four stands packed out with expectant Rangers fans.
Souttar endures afternoon to forget
The Scotland international may have done enough to earn himself a new Ibrox deal earlier in the week, but the central defender had a rare off-day on Livi’s artificial surface.
Having been preferred to Nasser Djiga since returning from injury, Souttar gave away the free-kick which led to Livi’s opener and was involved in the concession of the second goal after playing a loose pass to Tavernier which was intercepted and led to a break-away. He tried to make amends for that mistake but was hooked for Thelo Aasgaard in the closing stages.
Inspired Prior hands Livi survival lifeline
This was a vital point for Livingston in their ongoing battle to avoid the dreaded drop, but it’s one that Bartley and his players will feel should have ended in all three. They had French goalkeeper Jerome Prior to thank for producing a string of top-class saves, particularly in the first-half.
As he had done against Celtic over the festive period, Prior was in excellent form between the sticks. He denied Tuur Rommens’ effort with a superb one-handed save to tip the ball onto the post before thwarting Moore’s curling shot which seemed destined to nestle in the bottom corner. There was another fingertip save to prevent Bojan Miovski from netting a late winner.
Rangers player ratings vs Livingston
GK - Jack Butland (5/10)
RCB - John Souttar (4/10)
LCB - Emmanuel Fernandez (7/10)
CM - Nicolas Raskin (5/10)
CM - Tochi Chukwuani (6/10)
CAM - Mikey Moore (7/10)
RW- Andreas Skov Olsen (3/10)
LW - Djeidi Gassama (5/10)
CF - Youssef Chermiti (5/10)
Subs used: Bojan Miovski (4/10), Ryan Naderi (4/10), Thelo Aasgaard (2/10), Nedim Bajrami (N/A)