Helander fillip at Ibrox as Rangers complete recovery
defence, Motherwell’s intentions were not purely limited to frustrating Rangers, something they did highly effectively for much of the contest.
The visitors were also set up to provide a counter-attacking threat whenever possible and they should have taken the lead as early as the third minute.
Liam Grimshaw, giving the first indication of his willingness to break out of Motherwell’s defensive shape and surge forward down the right, outpaced Helander and whipped over a low cross which Connor Goldson could only divert tamely into the path of Chris Long. It was a gift of a chance for the unmarked Motherwell striker but he scooped his left foot shot over from around 14 yards.
Gerrard would have been perplexed by another sluggish start to the afternoon from his team who had also been slow out of the blocks when they dropped two points at Hearts seven days earlier.
As Rangers gradually began to find a quicker tempo, they looked to be taking a measure of control as first Brandon Barker and then Defoe got into threatening positions, both firing shots just over Mark Gillespie’s goal.
But it was Motherwell who made the breakthrough with another enterprising raid which caught the home defence flat-footed. Cole displayed admirable poise when he received the ball with his back to goal, turning smartlyanddrivingalowshotbeyond Allan Mcgregor from 16 yards.
Rangers, showing four changes in theirstartingline-upfromthursday’s
Europa League draw in Porto, struggled to find the rhythm and accuracy of passing required to pierce the Motherwell defence.
As the hosts tried to crank up the pressure, they had two loud penalty appeals for handball rejected by referee Andrew Dallas. The first, when Motherwell captain Peter Hartley blocked a Scott Arfield shot, looked stronger than the second when Borna Barisic’s cross was cut out by Grimshaw.
But the indignation of the Rangers fans was eased when Dallas did point to the spot in the 38th minute. It was Motherwell who were incensed this time, Liam Polworth accusing James Tavernier of tumbling too easily under his challenge to earn the award.
The Fir Park men duly felt justice had been done when Tavernier struck Gillespie’s right-hand post from 12 yards – a third penalty miss of the season for the Rangers captain.
Barker, struggling to shake off an injury sustained earlier in the afternoon, blazed Rangers’ next chance wide from a decent position before he was replaced by Ryan Kent.
Motherwell seemed poised to preserve their lead for the interval but as the half ticked into stoppage time, they were finally undone at the back. Mcgregor’slongclearancefromhand found Defoe just inside the Motherwell half. The striker held off the chal