Dolly on the mark to give Gerrard the blues
But Holt says they won’t get carried away
Dolly Menga grabbed the only goal of the game as Livingston defeated Rangers in front of a sell-out crowd at the Tony Macaroni Arena – but boss Gary Holt is still insisting his side are favourites for relegation.
The Angolan international frontman fired home his first goal for the club from close range in the 34th minute as the visitors struggled to create anything in the final third all game.
Despite dominating Steven Gerrard’s men for large spells of the game and riding a six match unbeaten run that sees the newly promoted Lions sit third in the table, Holt is refusing to get carried away.
He said: “To a man, everyone did their job. Rangers are a good side and they were causing us problems.
“We had to tweak the system but testament to the the players because they took it in their stride and adapted.
“We got a good goal and in the second half, although we knew Rangers would have a lot of the ball, with a bit of luck we might have scored more because we had the better chances. We limited them to very few chances.”
The Lions’ gaffer added: “Avoiding relegation is still the aim. We haven’t achieved anything. There’s 31 games to go.
“It’s great, don’t get me wrong, but until it’s mathematical that we’re safe, then we’re not looking at anything else. We’re still the favourites to go down and it’s early days.”
The hosts created the first chance of the game when Scott Pittman dragged his effort
wide of the post, before Alan Lithgow failed to properly connect from close range after a Craig Halkett header towards goal.
Rangers claimed for a penalty on the quarter-hour mark when Steven Lawless and Alfredo Morelos tangled inside the box but referee Craig Thomson waved play on.
The visitors began to control the game as firstly Morelos and then Lassana Coulibaly, who was replaced at half-time by Ryan Kent, had headers on goal but neither really threatened to find the net.
That spell of pressure forced the Lions into a change of shape, electing for 4- 5- 1 as opposed to their usual 3-5-2 with Menga playing the lone striker’s role and Declan Gallagher and Ricki Lamie slotting in at the full-back positions. It worked a treat as the Gers rarely threatened for the remainder of the game. In fact, it was Livi who looked the better side and they got their just rewards on 34 minutes when Scott Robinson and Gallagher strung neat passes down the right before the ball was slid across the face of goal for Menga to tap home through the legs of Allan McGregor. Liam Kelly was forced into a smart save in the early stages of the second half, stopping Morelos at the near post, before there was a stoppage in play around the hour mark when one of the assistant referees was struck by something thrown by a Rangers supporter and required treatment. Gerrard’s men might have controlled possession and played neat football in the middle of the park, but they were woeful in the final third, looking less and less likely to find the net as the game went on.
At the other end, though, Livi had their chances with Pittman’s delicate first touch taking him beyond his marker before forcing a save from McGregor, while Lithgow twice went close to wrapping things up.
The second goal wasn’t needed, though, as the home side’s stingy defence saw out the remainder of the contest despite Rangers having two late penalty appeals turned away as the Lions roared to three points.
Holt said: “We give the players the freedom to go out there and do their jobs. They know their roles.
“They stuck to their task and all 14 who played did their jobs and played with a smile, simple as that.
“We were a wee bit excitable in the first 10 to 15 minutes but after that we relaxed and with a bit of luck we might have scored more because we had the better chances.”