Wright on the money as Gio’s gamble hits jackpot
MOTHERWELL 1 Tierney (35) RANGERS 3
Wright (14, 47,) Tavernier (pen. 62)
Giovanni van Bronckhorst is beginning to look like a manager benefiting by being brave enough to take a calculated gamble.
He decided to put Rangers’ title hopes at risk by making eight changes for his side’s clash with Motherwell yesterday.
Reshuffling the pack that beat Celtic in last Sunday’s Scottish Cup semifinal was done to keep key men fresh for Thursday night’s Europa League tie against RB Leipzig in Germany.
Getting to a European final would be massive for the Ibrox men but the supporters don’t want to see the championship given up without a real fight.
Van Bronckhorst had the reputation of being a man reluctant to make changes and some felt Rangers suffered for that.
Things have now changed. Partly it has been through necessity because of injuries to strikers Morelos and Roofe, but tactical changes like restoring Barisic to the side have also taken place.
Ryan Jack, John Lundstram, Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent all dropped to the bench at Fir Park.
It was Scott Wright who made the difference with two goals, aided by the movement of Fashion Sakala.
Rangers won despite having Leon Balogun sent off after half-an-hour.
Van Bronckhorst said: “I’m very proud of the players because we had to dig deep and change our style a bit after having a man sent off.
“Everyone who came in to the team did well.
“We don’t have many attacked because of injuries but the players we brought in reacted really well.
“Scott and Fashion did well and I’m really pleased with their performances.”
It looked like it would be a stroll for Rangers – which it eventually was – when Wright put his side ahead with a bit of help from keeper Liam Kelly.
Goldson headed back a cross from Tavernier after a well-rehearsed short corner and Kelly palmed it towards his own net with Wright on hand to make sure it went in.
Having Leon Balogun sent off for a lunging tackle on Cornelius gave the Rangers manager a problem he could have done without.
It meant a side that had been involved in successive games with extra-time would have to play for an hour with one man less.
He really didn’t need to worry. After a very brief Motherwell flurry and an equaliser, Motherwell faded away.
Glen Kamara’s failure to clear the ball from his own penalty area in the lead-up to Motherwell’s equaliser was none too clever.
He allowed the ball to be whipped away from him under pressure from Ross Tierney and it was worked over to the left wing.
Jake Carroll crossed and Tierney rose to send a powerful header past Mcgregor. It was a goal made in Ireland, with both men involved hailing from the Emerald Isle.
The question the visitors were left asking was: “What has happened to Kamara’s form?”
Ryan Jack and John Lundstram will normally be the holding midfielders and are likely to be back in midweek.
Motherwell were emboldened by hitting the net and in the knowledge they were facing 10 men.
Taking advantage of the extra man, however, was something that proved beyond the Steelmen.
They conceded a goal just two minutes after the restart when Sakala was allowed to skip through the home defence and play a pass inside to Wright.
The former Aberdeen man rifled home a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Much to the dismay of the fans in claret and amber, there was no revival from the home team.
They went further behind when Mugabi was adjudged to have taken down Sakala, and Tavernier scored his 80th goal for Rangers from the penalty spot.
Rangers cruised to victory and made sure Celtic still have work to do if they want to be crowned champions.