Motherwell 1-1 Rangers: Player ratings + talking points as sluggish Gers drop points in opening day Fir Park thriller

The start of a new Scottish Premiership campaign. This was supposed to be the start of a new, exciting era at Rangers under Russell Martin. Instead, it was two points dropped on the opening day of the season. Again.

Motherwell were the opposition on matchday one at Fir Park and the home side were more than deserving of their share of the spoils for their second half performance alone.

It started positively for the Ibrox side. James Tavernier nodding home from a simple corner which was inexplicably given away by Paul McGinn. But the Steelmen remained firmly in the contest and were back on level terms with three minutes left through Emmanuel Longelo’s driven effort.

Rangers had won their first league match under a new manager in seven of their past eight attempts, with the only exception being Steven Gerrard in 2018/19. Martin was desperate not to become the first to fall at the opening hurdle.

The two sides emerged from the tunnel to splendid late afternoon sunshine in North Lanarkshire and you could feel excitement in the air with a fresh look about both teams; new managers in the dugout, new signings and new styles being implemented.

The hosts started brightly and looked comfortable in possession as they attempted to play out from the back. However, the best chances of the first-half fell the way of Martin’s men with Djeidi Gassama - making his first start - curling a short inches wide of the far post after a well-worked move.

The woodwork then came to Motherwell’s rescue after 12 minutes when Danilo’s perfectly-weighted shot clipped the top of the crossbar. But just two minutes later, Rangers hit the front.

Paul McGinn conceded a cheap corner, allowing the lively Joe Rothwell to send a teasing delivery into the box and captain James Tavernier rose unchallenged to power a downward header into the net.

There was little in the way of goalmouth action thereafter with Motherwell handed cause for encouragement due to their opponents slackness in possession. They could sense a vulnerability about Rangers backline but were struggling to capitalise when they did venture into the final third.

Just as they did in the opening 45 minutes, the Steelmen were quick out of the blocks after the restart and threatened an equaliser when Tavernier gave away a free-kick in a dangerous areas on the left-hand side of the box.

Callum Slattery’s pinpoint delivery found Elijah Just at the back post, but the New Zealander was unable to direct his header on target.

If that wasn’t a huge let-off for the visitors, Butland then had to produce an excellent fingertip save to prevent McGinn’s shot on the angle from finding the bottom corner, with John Souttar reacting quickest to make a last-ditch block as Apostolos Stamatelopoulos prepared to pull the trigger on the rebound.

The momentum has swung in Motherwell’s favour. All of a sudden Rangers looked extremely leggy with their midweek Champions League exertions in Athens beginning to take its toll.

Martin turned to his bench in search of a missing spark, introducing Cyriel Dessers and Lyall Cameron for Danilo and Mohamed Diomande after 65 minutes. Ex-Dundee midfielder Cameron almost provided it from another Rothwell corner when he drilled a low effort straight at Calum Ward from the edge of the box.

Gassama then teed up substitute Connor Barron, who blazed over the top as Rangers searched for a second goal they desperately craved. Instead, they had to soak up wave after wave of attack from the home side in the closing stages.

And Motherwell’s persistence paid off with an 87th minute leveller. Elijah Just cushioned the ball into the path of left-back Emmanuel Longelo, who swept low past the outstretched Butland into the far corner on the half-volley.

Fir Park was rocking and Butland had to look sharp to thwart Tom Sparrow deep into stoppage time to spare his teammates blushes.

Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points from the 90 minutes and how the Rangers players fared:

Left-back urgently needed

Many fans have already decided that Max Aarons is not the answer to Rangers left-back troubles. The on-loan Bournemouth defender has been playing out of position on the opposite side to where he is used to as Martin looks to accommodate skipper Tavernier. However, he was guilty of losing the ball on a number of occasions and doesn’t look comfortable in the role. If Aarons isn’t the answer then who is? Jefte was left n the bench and Ridvan Yilmaz not even in the matchday squad. Might the Englishman dip back into the market to seek an alternative option?

Well worthy of a point

Motherwell fans will be hugely encouraged by what they witnessed from their team. Jens Berthel Askou hasn’t had too long to implement his ideas, but the Danish boss has got his squad playing some really eye-catching football. Longelo’s equaliser late on came after they had peppered Butland’s goal in the second half. Their risk and reward strategy paid off big time.

Butland brilliance required

Far too often, the Rangers No.1 was called into action. Time and time again Rangers were sliced open through the middle of the park and had it not been for some tremendous goalkeeping from Butland, Motherwell could easily have nicked all three points.

Rangers player ratings

GK - Jack Butland (7/10)

RB - James Tavernier (5/10)

RCB - Nasser Djiga (6/10)

LCB - John Souttar (6/10)

LB - Max Aarons (5/10)

CM - Joe Rothwell (6/10)

CM - Nicolas Raskin (5/10)

CM - Mohamed Diomande (5/10)

LCF - Djeidi Gassama (7/10)

RCF - Kieran Dowell (6/10)

CF - Danilo (5/10)

Subs used: Cyriel Dessers, Lyall Cameron, Connor Barron, Nedim Bajrami, Oscar Cortes.