Ryan Darby

Sun 17 January 2021 15:00, UK

Rangers were made to work for a 1-1 draw at Fir Park, with Motherwell taking advantage of a sloppy Gers performance.

Motherwell took a shock lead when Devante Cole tapped home from close range. After pulling the Rangers defence apart, a ball was played across the face of goal and Cole could not miss.

Rangers were uncharacteristically poor from the start, looking sluggish, slow on the ball and generally lacking quality.

Steven Gerrard’s men battled into the second-half and it was not until the last 30 minutes until they could get themselves back on level terms.

Borna Barisic’s whipped cross into the box was met by a brilliant header from super-sub Cedric Itten, who netted his fourth goal against Motherwell this season.

Here are our Ibrox News player ratings.

Allan McGregor – 6

Not really much he could have done for the goal at such a short distance. Aside from that, he was not particularly tested by Motherwell.

James Tavernier – 4

He should have done better to hold his position and stop the crossing opportunities for the Motherwell opener. Lacked his usual quality with his final ball.

Connor Goldson – 6

Goldson was dragged out of position for Motherwell’s opening goal and was not helped by some passive defending. Unlucky not to score with a great header that was cleared off the line.

Leon Balogun – 6

Fears over a potential ankle injury that he suffered were quickly squashed, with the defender looking comfortable on and off the ball.

Borna Barisic – 7

Delivered a number of very inviting crosses into the Motherwell box but Rangers were lacking any sort of quality. He finally got his reward with a brilliant ball into the box for the Itten goal.

Steven Davis – 6

One of Rangers more positive midfielders as he tried to get things moving in the middle of the park.

Joe Aribo – 5

A little loose in possession at times, compared to his usual high standards. Generally struggled to impact the game. Should have done better with a shot at a goal inside the box, but blasted it over the bar.

Glen Kamara – 5 

Like Aribo, largely ineffective when it mattered most. Some clever touches and good flashes of movement, but the overall quality was lacking.

Ianis Hagi – 5

Hagi initially struggled to cope with Motherwell’s pressing game in midfield, but he was often on the move and tried to consistently feed the ball into wide areas. Couldn’t improve in the second half and rightly hooked for Itten.

Ryan Kent – 5

Some nice touches in and around the Motherwell penalty area but in truth, he never really looked like threatening the home side. Often tried to do too much with the ball.

Alfredo Morelos – 6 

Morelos did not shirk the physical battle lead the line well with his movement. The problem for ‘El Bufalo’ was the service that was coming his way. He can feel a touch unlucky after coming off for Jermain Defoe late on.

Substitutes

Cedric Itten – 7

His physical presence really gave Motherwell something extra to think about in the penalty area and it was a brilliant header to draw Rangers level.

Jermain Defoe – N/A

Brandon Barker – N/A

In other Rangers news, ‘He never learns’ – Many Rangers fans annihilate player at half time vs Motherwell