Rangers told they can still win Scottish Premiership title despite laziness at Ibrox
Rangers are still in with a chance of winning the Scottish Premiership title despite slipping four points behind leaders Hearts after losing 3-2 against Motherwell.
That is according to BBC Scotland‘s Tom English, who believes Danny Rohl‘s side are not out of the race just yet, even in the aftermath of the damaging setback at Ibrox.
The Light Blues now simply must beat Hearts at Tynecastle next Monday to reignite their fading hopes, with a defeat almost certain to prove fatal. However, they will have to improve, especially with English accusing them of allowing “laziness” to set in last time out.
“If they lose against Hearts at Tynecastle next Monday night, then you can stick a fork in them,” the journalist added, before teasing: “If they win…”
With just four league matches remaining, there is no room for error.
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Rangers their own worst enemy
It was painful to watch the Gers stumble against Motherwell on Sunday. They missed multiple gilt-edged opportunities and were haunted by the same old issues Rohl hasn’t fixed.
While they were able to fight back from two goals down, they could have no real complaints after shipping Emmanuel Longelo’s winning goal in the 90th minute.
| Rangers’ statistics vs Motherwell | Result |
| Possession | 51% |
| Expected goals (xG) | 2.21 |
| Shots (on target) | 16 (6) |
| Passes | 425 |
| Big chances | 6 |
That last-gasp slip-up allowed Hearts to open up a four-point gap over them after they came from behind to beat rivals Hibernian. Defeat for Rangers at Tynecastle in their next outing would see that advantage increase to seven points, which would surely be insurmountable.
English, though, believes the Ibrox giants only have themselves to blame.
“Rangers are in the most danger of taking themselves out of it,” he wrote. “They can’t stop scoring but equally, they can’t stop conceding.
“There’s a lot of flakiness in their make-up, possibly too many players spending too much time meandering through games.”
It is a damning, but entirely fair, assessment. Individual performances have too often fallen below the expected standard, especially during the first half of matches.
How do the Gers win the title?
Still, there is both good news and bad news.
Somehow, Rangers’ title hopes are just about in their own hands. They must still take on Hearts and Celtic – the current top two – but will need six points from six.
As unlikely as that tally might be, it has to be the target to keep the Gers in contention.
Then, on May 16, Celtic also host Hearts. Should that result work in Rangers’ favour, Rohl’s side could get their noses back in front heading into the final round of fixtures.
All that is certain is that it will be a grandstand finish.
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