George Overhill

Sun 27 February 2022 17:30, UK

Chris Sutton reacted instantly to the result as Rangers threw away a two goal lead to draw with Motherwell and miss the chance to cut Celtic’s SPFL lead.

The Hoops had been held to a goalless draw against Hibs earlier in the afternoon, leaving the door open for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men to put the pressure on with a win at Ibrox.

They were in perfect position to do so after opening up a 2-0 first-half lead, but a much-reduced second half performance let the visitors back in and passed up a golden opportunity.

Sutton had posted on his personal Twitter account following the Celtic result, saying: “That was very flat…”

And he quickly retweeted the same message moments after the final whistle of the Light Blues game to signify the limp response.

Major disappointment

Van Bronckhorst will be furious that his side let a comfortable lead slip in what should have been a certain win.

Two goals in two minutes midway through the first half, an own goal from Bevis Mugabi under pressure from Alfredo Morelos and a quick-fire follow up from Fashion Sakala, had put Gers in the driving seat.

But Jordan Roberts and Kaiyne Woolery answered after the break, with the home side unable to push for a winner.

Cutting the lead at the top of the SFPL to a point, off the back of the massive European triumph against Dortmund, would have been a huge psychological boost.

The pressure it would have put on Celtic after they were dumped out of Europe and then dropped league points would have been very significant.

So to throw that away with a second draw following ties with the German giants is a big failing.

The manager may face questions as he only made two changes from the midweek starting lineup, having made one a week earlier.

In effect they dodged the bullet of falling further behind in the title race thanks to the Hoops result, but this was not good enough.

In other Rangers news, the referee was involved in a farcical sequence during the game to thwart Scott Arfield.