SLOW OUT TRAPS AGAIN BUT RANGERS FIND A QUICK FIX
Defensive deficiencies back on show as Gerrard’s men stage familiar fightback
YOU have to commend Rangers for their power of recovery. In what is proving to be a curious old season, Steven Gerrard’s side are starting to need it like their next breath.
When Joe Hungbo raced away to put Ross County into a shock lead within five minutes at Ibrox, it was the fifth game in a row, and the 11th match in total this term, in which Rangers had conceded the opening goal.
Unlike in Copenhagen last Thursday, this time the team made full amends. Which is not to say their defensive deficiencies will merely be glossed over.
Back in control of the game thanks to four straight goals, the concession of a late consolation to Jordan White will also have irked the Rangers boss.
His side remain four points clear at the top of the Premiership yet are still prone to starting games sloppily.
Alarmingly, the 13 goals his side have conceded to date is the sum total of what they lost in the entirety of the last league campaign. There is substantial room for improvement.
Once they got going, Rangers were much more impressive on the front foot.
Ryan Kent returned to the starting side and garlanded a sparkling hour on the field with a brilliant goal. Rangers were already level thanks to a flashing header by Joe Aribo. The Englishman was another attacker who caught the eye, setting up Juninho Bacuna for a piledriver after the break which brought up his first goal in Rangers colours and the third of the game. County deserve credit for hanging in there, though. When Alex Iacovitti put the ball past his own goalkeeper, Malky Mackay must momentarily have feared a cricket score. Yet, they kept going and headed back up the A9 with White’s goal fresh in their minds. They will reconvene after the international break now with significant hope. Gerrard (left), made wholesale changes to the side which started in Denmark. Out went Borna Barisic, Glen Kamara, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield and Alfredo Morelos. Calvin Bassey, John Lundstram, Bacuna, Ianis Hagi and Kent started in their places.
Unsurprisingly, Mackay largely stuck with the side which hammered Dundee last time out, Jack Burroughs starting in place of White the only change.
If Gerrard believed the freshness in his squad would eradicate their slow starts, he was mistaken. Just five minutes in, Regan CharlesCook took the ball in his stride and assessed his options. His forward pass found the home defence square.
As Connor Goldson appealed for a flag that wasn’t forthcoming, Hungbo advanced and slotted the ball under Allan McGregor.
The consolation for Gerrard was that his side still had 85 minutes to turn the game around.
Making his first start since Lyon on September 16, Kent was in the mood. A delightful pass fed Bacuna. Ash Maynard-Brewer blocked the midfielder’s strike at his near post.
Kent’s pace was too much for Iacovitti, who picked up a booking for a late clip on the winger, with Harry Paton fortunate not to suffer the same fate for a similar offence.
Paton did well to get in the way of Bassey’s powerful strike but Rangers were now crunching through the gears. And on 19 minutes they drew level.
James Tavernier’s outswinging corner from the right should have been better dealt with. Full credit to Aribo, though, who was on his toes to angle a header back across goal. The County keeper could only watch the ball drop into the top corner.
Iacovitti then did well to block Lundstram’s shot from the edge of the box before ensuring Aribo’s strike on the turn wouldn’t reach the target.
Harry Clarke later stretched out a telescopic leg to deny Fashion Sakala the chance to put Rangers in front. However, the next goal was not long in coming.
Having dealt far better with a Tavernier corner, County may have been distracted by the fact Leon Balogun had remained down in the box. There seemed no imminent danger when the ball broke to Kent 25 yards out. Moving the
ball from his left foot to his right, he fired a sumptuous dipping strike over Maynard-Brewer. What a way to score your first goal of the season.
It was now one-way traffic, albeit County made it up the tunnel still in the contest thanks to MaynardBrewer beating away Bacuna’s drilled attempt.
It only took four second-half minutes for any doubt about the outcome to be removed.
Needing to eliminate a couple of opponents before contemplating a shot, Bacuna played in Aribo. The weight of the return pass was perfect before Bacuna beat the County keeper with sheer power and accuracy.
With the points safe, it was a question now of going into the international break on the back of a commanding win.
Ianis Hagi almost claimed the fourth goal with a curling strike before Tavernier fired a good opening over.
It would take the intervention of a man in yellow for the scoreline to gain an extra sheen for Rangers. Iacovitti simply had to commit to trying to clear Tavernier’s cross. His outstretched leg inadvertently clipped the ball into his own net.
The goals for Gerrard’s men did dry up but the sight of Ryan Jack taking the field for the first time in nine months 19 minutes from time had home fans on their feet again. Nathan Patterson was also given a run-out from the bench — unusually at left-back.
The final word belonged to County, sub White, converting smartly through McGregor’s legs with three minutes left.
Mackay’s men are still propping up the table but showed enough to suggest they are capable of rectifying that situation.
RANGERS: (4-3-3): McGregor 6; Tavernier 6, Goldson 6, Balogun 6 (Patterson 71) Bassey 6; Lundstram 6 (Jack 71) Hagi 7, Bacuna 7; Aribo 7, Sakala 6, Kent 7 (Roofe 61). Subs not used: McLaughlin, Kamara, Morelos, Arfield. Booked: Balogun. ROSS COUNTY: (4-3-2-1): Maynard-Brewer 5; Clarke 5, Baldwin 5, Iacovitti 5, Randall 5; Callachan 5 (Samuel 84) Tillson 5, Paton 5; Burroughs 5 (Vokins 45) Hungbo 6 (White 72); Charles-Cook 5. Subs not used: Laidlaw, Spittal, Robertson, Watson. Booked: Iacovitti, Baldwin. Man of the match: Juninho Bacuna. Referee: David Munro. Attendance: 49,222.