KRANJCAR SHOWS HIS WORTH IN IBROX WIN
NIKO KRANJCAR endured a dismal introduction to the Scottish Premiership when being removed from the play just over an hour into Rangers’ opening-day draw at home to Hamilton, unfit, uninspiring and undoubtedly at fault for the visitors’ early goal.
It was the Croatian midfielder who prevented the Ibrox side from dropping further points on home turf yesterday, though, with some tantalising hints of what may be to come when he shakes off the ringrust and reattunes himself to properly competitive football, following a period spent in the second tier of the American game with New York Cosmos.
Make no mistake, along with the evergreen Kenny Miller, he got his side out of jail against a Motherwell outfit which neutralised Mark Warburton’s side tactically during the first half, grabbing the lead through Scott McDonald, and simply ran out of gas as the match wore on.
Had goalkeeper Wes Foderingham not managed to get a strong hand to a goalbound shot from McDonald on 52 minutes, who knows what might have happened?
As it was, Kranjcar was introduced to the play for Andy Halliday on 56 minutes and made all the difference. He produced a beautiful diagonal pass which led to Harry Forrester’s equaliser and was involved again with a delightful piece of play in the lead-up to Miller’s dramatic winner more than half-a-minute into stoppage-time.
Kranjcar has appeared so laid-back he is almost horizontal since arriving in Scotland. He speaks softly and slowly and tends to refrain from celebrating goals. His joy and, perhaps, relief when the final whistle blew was evident, though.
He seized Forrester in a bear hug in the centre-circle, grinning from ear to ear. This is a small step for Kranjcar, but it could be a significant one in the wake of the act of mercy that was his substitution against Accies.
‘Niko’s working so hard,’ said Rangers manager Mark Warburton.
‘There’s no doubt about his ability, his quality on the ball.
‘Don’t forget he’s had a long time out, away from the top level, so he will take his time, but his effort is first-class and the staff are putting the hours in with him as well.
‘We could turn round and say we were below par and got the three points, so we will take that.
‘First half, we lacked any penetration and conceded a poor goal with a loose pass and tackle. It was not acceptable.
‘The second half was much better with a different tempo to the game.’
That is certainly true. The only real chance Rangers created in the opening period came from a dreadful error on Motherwell’s part.
With 11 minutes on the clock, Lionel Ainsworth gifted the ball to Miller with a header that lacked any sense of purpose whatsoever.
Miller scarpered into the left side of the penalty area, but his shot across goal went high and wide.
After that, the focus slowly began to turn towards the defensive frailties that have been evident at Ibrox since early last season. There may not be a huge difference in standard between the Premiership and Championship, but it is big enough to confirm that Rob Kiernan and Danny Wilson cannot remain the chosen central defensive pairing much longer.
On 18 minutes, a long ball upfield from Motherwell goalkeeper Craig Samson made its way to Ainsworth, who got between two men before sclaffing a left-footed effort wide from a clear shooting position.
Within 60 seconds, however, the visitors were in front, with James Tavernier found lacking.
Marvin Johnson turned him inside out on the left, his low cross took a deflection off a home shirt and McDonald, correctly judged to be onside by standside linesman Graeme Stewart, had the simple task of converting from a matter of yards.
Rangers were all over the place again two minutes later and fortunate not to concede a second. Barrie McKay lost possession with a slack pass aimed at Joey Barton and allowed Chris Cadden to aim a long diagonal ball out towards Johnson on the left.
He nodded the ball back to Craig Clay just outside the area and his low shot whizzed just the wrong side of Foderingham’s right-hand post. The rumbling sense of unease in the stands turned to loud jeers at the interval and the need for heroics from Foderingham early in the second period did not ease the tension.
McDonald got the better of Wilson and his angled drive looked netbound until the keeper stuck out his right hand and diverted it wide.
‘I thought it was in,’ said the former Celtic striker. ‘It was probably a decent height for him, but it was still a great save.’
After Foderingham earned his corn, Kranjcar stepped to the fore.
On 64 minutes, he played a delightful chip out to Miller on the left, the striker took the ball at speed and released a shot that was saved at close range by Samson.
The ball made its way to Forrester inside the area and his low effort, which resulted in him sustaining an injury and being replaced by Michael O’Halloran, went through Stephen McManus on the line to hit the net.
The winner was similarly messy in the end, but involved some lovely play from Kranjcar early in the move, taking a great touch on a pass from Barton and feeding the ball inside to O’Halloran after McDonald had lost possession for the visitors.
O’Halloran’s shot broke across goal to Miller and he buried his effort past Samson in emphatic fashion.
‘It was probably my responsibility in terms of not clearing the lines,’ said McDonald. ‘I will always try to play but, at certain moments, you have to clear your lines. I apologised afterwards.’