Makeshift Rangers scramble for parity
FINDING a substitute for the thrills and kicks he got from the bullfighting arena cannot have been easy for Pedro Caixinha the football coach, but the dramas of this draw surely come close.
The miracle of this chaotic, end-to-end contest was there were only two goals. The upshot was a point apiece that failed to fire either side significantly closer towards their end-of-season ambitions.
The signpost is that life at Rangers could be quite a ride with the Portuguese manager, who was forced into hauling off 75 per cent of his defence at half-time — triggering a second-half comeback. Somehow.
For it was a three-man back line featuring Andy Halliday and Jon Toral for the entire second period that stopped Motherwell adding to Louis Moult’s early header.
Wes Foderingham was inspired, producing a string of saves on his line. His counterpart, Craig Samson, denied Joe Garner, who struck the Rangers equaliser, a hat-trick.
So while there were days off cancelled and much meticulous work throughout international week as Caixinha began to familiarise himself with his players, the precision planning had to be shelved amid wild entertainment that swung from one penalty box to the other as soon as referee Steven McLean blew to start the second half.
Rangers winger Barrie McKay admitted afterwards that he was not entirely sure what formation his team were playing as the pressing for all three points wore on.
Yet three minutes in and it was just like under Mark Warburton. An inquest in the Rangers penalty box as a soft centre conceded.
Straight from a corner kick taken by Chris Cadden, a meat-and-drink invite for Moult was gobbled up with ease. The striker rose unchallenged to nod home from six yards and Foderingham made a futile bid to force the ball out on his line, pushing into the roof of his net.
With Ryan Bowman partnering Moult and supported by Scott McDonald, Motherwell posed a threatening presence on every foray forward and were first to every second ball.
On retreating, Cadden, Stephen Pearson and Craig Clay were compact in the middle of the park although Pearson’s lunge on Toral merited the caution received.
This made for an uncomfortable first half for Rangers. They could always be relied upon in the past two years to boss possession. This was far from the case here as Motherwell thoroughly deserved their lead.
The home side’s chances fell to Martyn Waghorn. Then Waghorn fell. From a stunning through ball from Toral, the Englishman met the pass on a stride to nick the ball away from stretching Samson then went to ground as he anticipated contact. Out came the yellow card for the Rangers forward, who had clearly opted for a cheap penalty instead of going for goal from a tight angle.
It took until the 38th minute for Rangers to craft another chance for Waghorn, one he dragged a yard shy of the far post.
Caixinha’s defence had taken a hit with Danny Wilson injured and James Tavenier suspended. Dressing room news that Lee Hodson was toiling with a virus and Lee Wallace and Clint Hill struggling with knocks stung him into emergency action.
Where Warburton loved to leave it an hour before making a switch, Caixinha went for it all at the break.
Believing that to be a bold move, it earned quite the cheer from the home crowd as they tried to digest all the changes. Michael O’Halloran and McKay ended up playing as wing-backs as Garner was thrown up front with Waghorn.
Playing in a conventional front two suits the ex-Preston man best and on 61 minutes he delivered the penalty-box artistry that has rarely been seen to justify his £1.8million transfer fee.
Kenny Miller’s deep ball from the right was expertly met at the back post with an acrobatic reach of the left boot. Samson was beaten at his near post.
The goalkeeper twice gained revenge for that finish but the classic custodian work was at the other end of the pitch.
Foderingham’s reactions to repel a Ben Heneghan header, then from Bowman and McDonald all at close range were superb.
Motherwell did have the ball in the net — only after a Foderingham save, of course. Bowman’s side-foot dig was pushed out by the keeper
into the path of Moult and, after his shot could not avoid touching an offside Pearson on its way to goal, a belated flag kept the scores level.
The swift changes of possession and waves of attack were continuous all the way into injury time.
Emerson Hyndman could have damaged a finger or two slamming the turf in frustration when he, for the second time, botched a penaltybox touch that could have plundered a winner in stoppage time.
To have played so well at Rangers and come off the pitch to learn that midweek opponents Hamilton had moved to within a point of them ahead of the Lanarkshire derby was scant reward for Motherwell’s efforts.
Rangers will be at Kilmarnock on the same night and face the prospect of starting that game 13 points behind Aberdeen if they take care of business against Inverness Caley Thistle on Tuesday.