Scott Arfield saves ponderous Rangers from unwelcome twist in title race

On an evening when Rangers for so long looked likely to be facing an unwelcome twist in the tale of an increasingly intriguing title race, Scott Arfield emerged as the central character in keeping the champions in control of the narrative.

Rangers' Scott Arfield celebrates his 75th minute winner against Livingston at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The 33-year-old is now at the veteran stage of his career and is out of contract at the end of the season but remains more than capable of valuable contributions such as the 75th minute winning goal he delivered as a second half substitute to finally break the resistance of a stubbornly determined Livingston side.

Arfield’s breakthrough was greeted with a mixture of joy and relief from both the home fans at Ibrox and manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the technical area. While it was a dominant display by Rangers on a rainswept night in Govan, it was also a ponderous one for long spells.

In the end, the victory was unquestionably deserved and preserved Rangers’ four-point lead over Celtic at the top of the table.

As van Bronckhorst looks to guide his squad through a key phase of their title defence, the biggest plus point was again the performance of midfielder Alex Lowry who more than justified his inclusion in the starting line-up and was by far the brightest spark in a Rangers display which fell a long way short of firing on all cylinders.

The 18-year-old’s composure in possession, willingness to receive the ball in congested areas of the pitch and clever footwork saw him maintain the momentum of his impressive debut from the bench against Stirling Albion last Friday.

It was Lowry who posted Rangers’ first effort on goal, comfortably held by Max Stryjek, and he was eager to get involved at every opportunity as the most advanced of the hosts’ midfield players.

But the teenager wasn’t provided with as much creative support as van Bronckhorst would have hoped. In the absence of the injured Ianis Hagi, the suspended Ryan Kent and leading striker Alfredo Morelos because of international duty, others who stepped in struggled to step up to the mark.

Fashion Sakala saw plenty of the ball down the left without doing anything particularly effective with it, although the Zambian international improved as the contest wore on, while Scott Wright was far too peripheral a figure on the right.

Cedric Itten lacked conviction in his efforts to impose himself on the Livingston central defence and it was no surprise when he was replaced by Kemar Roofe just before the hour mark

As a sense of frustration grew inside the stadium, it was the entrance of Arfield to replace the largely anonymous James Sands which proved pivotal.

Borna Barisic linked up cleverly with Sakala on the left and the Croatian left-back’s cross was flicked over the wrongfooted Stryjek by Arfield.

Rangers (4-2-3-1): McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Bassey, Barisic; Kamara, Sands (Arfield 59); Lowry, Wright (Jack 76), Sakala; Itten (Roofe 59). Subs not used: McLaughlin, Simpson, King, Lundstram, McCann, Barker.

Livingston (4-3-3): Stryjek, Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Longridge (McMillan 76); Pittman, Holt, Omeonga; Bailey (Chukwuemeka 80), Anderson (Nouble 65), Shinnie (Forrest 76). Subs not used: Maley, Boyes, Lewis, Jacobs, Montano.

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