Rangers produced a laboured performance to secure their third victory on the bounce with a slender 1-0 win over Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.
Michael Beale’s side, who beat St Johnstone last weekend before opening their Europa League group stage account with a narrow win over Real Betis on Thursday, soaked up a period of late pressure form the visitors to cling on for maximum points.
The only goal of the match came arrived after 24 minutes when Rabbi Matondo’s effort took a wicked deflection off striker Cyriel Dessers to wrong-foot the keeper and settle a nervy Ibrox crowd.
Sam Lammers had a volley fly inches wide of the target before Liam Kelly denied Dessers and Lammers in quick succession in the second half.
The Steelmen almost earned a share of the spoils when Blair Spittal’s goal-bound shot was cleared off the line by Gers skipper James Tavernier inside the final five minutes, shortly after Jack Butland made a terrific double save to thwart Oli Shaw.
The result lifts Rangers above their opponents into third place in the league table but their performance levels will need to improve drastically if they are to avoid dropping further points.
Here’s our post-match Rangers player ratings from Ibrox:
Unused subs: Robby McCrorie (GK), Ridvan Yilmaz, Dujon Sterling, Zak Lovelace.
5. Ben Davies - 6/10
Making his third start in a row after impressing against Real Betis, he had another relatively comfortable afternoon playing as a sweeper. Should’ve done better at times in the second half. Photo: Rob Casey - SNS Group
6. Borna Barisic - 6/10
Not at his creative best going forward but tried to get up and down the pitch as often as possible. | Getty Images
7. Jose Cifuentes - 6/10
Still finding his feet in Scotland. Occupying the deep-lying engine room role, the Ecuadorian provided a strong link between the midfield and attack. Should improve further. Subbed. Photo: Alan Harvey - SNS Group
8. John Lundstram - 8/10
A standout performer. Offered his team mates attacking impetus and drive from midfield. Helped to see the game out well and made some strong challenges. Very good. | Getty Images