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.
13. John Souttar (SUB) - 5/10
Replaced the injured Matondo in the first half as par tof a change in shape to a back three. Didn’t have a great deal to do. | Getty Images
14. Ryan Jack (SUB) - 4/10
Brought on for Dessers and provided a composed presence in the middle of the park. Photo: Alan Harvey - SNS Group
15. Abdallah Sima (SUB) - 5/10
Introduced for Wright and brought more energy to proceedings. Photo: Mark Scates - SNS Group
16. Bailey Rice (SUB) - 3/10
The 16-year-old hasn’t looked out of place in fleeting first-team appearances so far. Has a big future ahead of him. | Getty Images