Motherwell 0 - 5 Rangers: Ruthless Gers show appetite to push Celtic right to wire

Published on Sunday 1 May 2011 14:13

LAST Sunday's Old Firm match may yet turn out to have been the decisive fixture of the season, but right now it appears to have had minimal impact on Rangers' resilience.

Many clubs would suffer some kind of adverse reaction after a goalless draw which gave their rivals the initiative in the title race with just a few games to play, but Walter Smith's squad seem to have become positively energised by it.

The simplicity of the situation has surely helped to concentrate their minds. They probably need to win all their games if they are to retain the championship, and even that may not be enough. All they can do is apply the maximum pressure on Celtic by racking up a run of emphatic victories, and - in the second half at least - this was about as emphatic as they come.

The previous results between the teams this season might have led us to expect another one-sided outcome, with Rangers having won all four meetings (three in the SPL and one in the League Cup) and scoring 16 goals for only three conceded. But Motherwell, too, have played some of their best football of the season in recent weeks, having been excellent in the second-half against Hearts a week earlier, and outstanding for the opening half-hour of their Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone seven days earlier.

That they should have played so poorly here, therefore, came as a surprise. Perhaps equally unexpectedly, that poverty was shared by Rangers in the first half, but the longer the game went on the better the champions played.

Kyle Lafferty's goal was all that separated the teams when the half-time whistle sounded, but the match could have taken on a far different complexion had the officials treated the striker less leniently when he had the ball in the net for the second time shortly before the interval. Having been yellow-carded early on for a foul against Gavin Gunning, Lafferty risked being sent off for a second booking when he carried on playing after being flagged for offside. Several seconds had elapsed by the time the Northern Irishman stuck the ball into the net, and Mike Tumilty's whistle had been clearly heard around the ground, so another caution would have been in no way draconian.

Still, if Lafferty failed to show the requisite presence of mind there, he had at least maintained his composure 20 minutes or so earlier when opening the scoring, taking advantage of a fortunate break of the ball to go round goalkeeper Darren Randolph and shoot in from the left of the box.Allan McGregor, Randolph's Rangers counterpart, was as responsible as Lafferty for ensuring the score at the interval was 1-0 to the visitors. When Francis Jeffers was through on McGregor he might have taken a shot himself, but opted instead to square the ball to John Sutton, allowing the keeper to put in a goal-saving block.

McGregor, who had pulled off a fine save from a Steve Jones shot shortly before the Jeffers incident, was far less occupied in the second half as his outfield colleagues took control of the game. It was obvious that Rangers would need another goal if they were to prevent elements of insecurity creeping into their play, and it came not long after the restart thanks to a cross from the left by Gregg Wylde. Stephen Naismith's shot from beyond the far post was saved but Randolph but rebounded to Steven Davis, who found the net with a low first-time shot.

That goal brought about Nikica Jelavic's first significant involvement in the game, as the striker had had to jump quickly out of the way to avoid being struck by Davis's shot. He got far more involved from then on in, however, and saw a shot come back off the bar, then had a header from a free-kick chalked off for offside, before scoring his team's third.

The damage was again done down the left by Wylde, who found Sasa Papac on the overlap. The left-back sent over a deep cross, and Jelavic headed in at the back post.

The only question after that was how much improvement Rangers would be able to do to their goal difference. The answer came from Naismith, who scored his first with a well-struck drive from outside the box, and then grabbed his second in stoppage time with a shot from the right into the far corner.

"The last one was possibly one of my better strikes. I don't usually score good goals, mine are usually tap ins," said Naismith. "It was just a nice strike. I thought I'd have a go and luckily enough for me it went in. I should have had a hat-trick, definitely. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't put the easiest chance away. But we are happy with the five. We created a lot of chances and were probably unlucky not to score a few more."

Of course, Rangers could also win their three remaining games by the same score without having any effect on the outcome of the championship race, but if Celtic do slip up and only draw one of their remaining three games, goal difference could yet determine the issue. Celtic still have the advantage in that respect, but if Rangers keep nibbling away at it, we could yet be in for another final-day goal chase.