GOALS ARE BACK IN FASHION
Sakala is hat-trick hero as Rangers hit Motherwell for six at Fir Park in a stunning return to top form
THE WEEKEND began with talk of Celtic going top of the league and ended with Rangers four points clear at the summit. Where Giorgos Giakoumakis blew the chance to make a striking statement, a hat-trick from Fashion Sakala showed how it should be done.
Scotland’s champions refuse to make the defence of their title a straightforward affair. For the sixth time in 12 league games they conceded the opening goal when Bevis Mugabi gave Motherwell an early lead. Against St Mirren last Sunday the Ibrox players turned the game on its head before half-time and so it was here. For all the fretting over the way they start games, it’s hard to find fault with the way they finish them.
The sixth goal from Kemar Roofe sparked a spontaneous chorus of ‘we shall not be moved’ from a jubilant away support. Their lead at the top of the Premiership restored to a comfortable margin, this season is still too unpredictable to be sure. Yet on days like this, you sense they might be right.
A second yellow card for Motherwell captain Stephen O’Donnell after 67 minutes contributed to a late collapse from the home team. Yet the ruthlessness with which the visitors piled on the agony sent a resounding message to the other side of Glasgow. Despite the hiccups, Rangers still look the team with the strongest constitution.
‘I think that’s been coming,’ said Ibrox manager Steven Gerrard. ‘It’s almost been in the post. We’ve been waiting for that performance for some time. I thought it was back to our identity and how we wanted it to look for sure.
‘You’ve got to have belief and trust in your players. You’ve always got to be honest with them and I always want to be as honest with them as I can. At times we haven’t been ourselves. There’s been an ingredient missing. But today is all about the players. They’ve performed ever so well.’
The last time Motherwell beat Rangers in a league match was Boxing Day 2002. Despite a dream start for the hosts, the game had a familiar tinge by half-time.
For players a 30th birthday is a cause for mourning rather than celebration. For Rangers captain James Tavernier it was a time to roll up the sleeves and drag his team back into the game after the loss of the early goal. An equaliser and an assist from the skipper turned this game around before half-time.
He was also involved in the breakdown in communication with Connor Goldson which ended in the central defender aiming a header from a bouncing long ball aimlessly out of play for a corner.
A short ball was swung into the area by Sean Goss. Sondre Solholm Johansen’s header forced Allan McGregor to save low at his left-hand post. When the ball spilled loose Mugabi forced it home from the most acute of angles.
Despite big chances for Joe Aribo, Motherwell threatened to add a second when Jordan Roberts slid an enticing ball across goal for Tony Watt. Graham Alexander felt there was a claim for a penalty in the lead-up, but no serious claim.
A brilliant strike from the birthday boy dragged Rangers level. With 43 minutes on the clock Calvin Bassey’s cross from the left was pretty directionless. Tavernier met the ball flush on the volley to flash a low strike into the bottom corner of the net. Fir Park keeper Liam Kelly had no chance.
Motherwell tried desperately to cling on and make it to the dressing room at half-time without losing another goal. A rampant Rangers had other ideas.
Gathering the ball on the right touchline, Tavernier swung a superb cross deep into the sixyard box where Sakala — starting in place of Roofe — was perfectly placed to bury a brilliant header beyond the helpless Kelly.
A summer signing from KV Oostende, Sakala had only scored one previous competitive goal for the Ibrox club. That, too, was against Motherwell in a frustrating 1-1 draw in September. This one would come with a happier ending.
As the second half began Motherwell had to regroup. They had to get into the faces of their opponents and find a way up the pitch. That was easier said than done. If any team was scoring again it was Rangers.
The third goal after 63 minutes killed off any semblance of a contest. For Sakala this game could prove transformational after a slightly stuttering Ibrox career so far.
Cutting in from the left, 20 yards from goal, the Zambian striker’s low strike took a heavy deflection off the boot of Goss and skidded past Kelly. For Rangers how it came wasn’t important, only the certainty of victory.
A day which started brightly for Motherwell went downhill fast. Booked for pulling back Sakala after nine minutes, Scotland full-back O’Donnell was shown a red card for catching Bassey late with just over 20 minutes to play.
With 11 men on the pitch Motherwell were up against it. Reduced to ten, any hope of displacing Aberdeen in the top six disappeared completely.
Alexander was entitled to feel some sense of grievance with the fourth and fifth goals which gave the scoreline a pleasing sheen for Rangers.
As with Sakala’s Ibrox equaliser in September, VAR would probably have seen both chalked off. Glenn Kamara’s low strike with 15 minutes to play came with Sakala standing in an offside position, blocking the view of keeper Kelly. With five minutes to play Sakala sealed his hat-trick, squeezing a Steven Davis cross in at the back post, despite replays showing him to be marginally offside. Motherwell’s collapse was complete in the first minute of added time when Roofe got the final touch on a Jack Simpson header which was heading into the net anyway.
There was no question of who was grabbing the ball at time up. Where Cedric Itten used to terrorise Motherwell with goal after goal, the baton has now passed to the beaming Zambian after his fourth Rangers start.
‘I got all the guys to sign it,’ said the hat-trick hero. ‘I will keep it safe by sleeping with it.’
MOTHERWELL (4-3-3): Kelly 5; O’Donnell 4, Solholm Johansen 5, Mugabi 7, McGinley 6; Goss 5, Slattery 5 (Maguire 82), O’Hara 5; Shields 5 (Van Veen 65), Roberts 5 (Lamie 70), Watt 5. Subs not used: Fox, Carroll, Woolery, Grimshaw. Sent off: O’Donnell.
RANGERS (4-3-3): McGregor 6; Tavernier 7, Goldson 5, Balogun 6 (Simpson 7), Bassey 6; Davis 7, Kamara 6, Arfield 6; Aribo 6 (Wright 82), Sakala 8, Morelos 4 (Roofe 70).
Subs not used: McLaughlin, Lundstram, Hagi, Patterson. Man of the match: Fashion Sakala. Referee: Nick Walsh. Attendance: 7,740.