It’s a very Merry Christmas for Rangers as the club cut the lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to two points with a comfortable victory over Motherwell.
Philippe Clement’s side swept Motherwell away with two goals inside the first 15 minutes with Kieran Dowell producing a fine finish and Todd Cantwell following suit.
The eventual 2-0 victory was enough to move within two points of the top of the Scottish Premiership and maintain Clement’s unbeaten start as manager.
Resurgent striker Cyriel Dessers also had two goals ruled out for offside in the match, with the second in particular a controversially tight call.
Now 16 games without defeat under the new Rangers boss, here’s three things we learned as the Gers team spread a little Christmas Eve cheer at Fir Park.
Makeshift Rangers midfield make meal of Motherwell
Rangers might be nursing a series of injuries – particularly in the middle of the park – but it made little difference against Motherwell.
There remains major doubts that Nicolas Raskin, Ryan Jack, Jose Cifuentes or even John Lundstram will be available before the winter break but Rangers are coping.
Kieran Dowell – who is finally back in the side after a frustrating early season injury of his own – opened the scoring and followed up his positive display against St Johnstone at Ibrox with a fine showing in north Lanarkshire.
Dujon Sterling, traditionally a right full-back, also once again impressed with his intelligent positioning and athletic contribution and both played a big role in this important victory.
Leon Balogun is Philippe Clement’s man
Ben Davies is £4m centre-back whose been consistently unavailable since joining the Gers last season and he was once again not included in the club’s squad against Motherwell.
John Souttar, another who has had a series of injury problems, later came off the bench alongside teenage centre-back Leon King, who has been used more recently as a midfielder amid the aforementioned crisis.
But once again Philippe Clement opted to go for Leon Balogun from the start and once again the Nigerian international centre-back delivered for his manager.
It’s clear Belgian boss Philippe trusts his man Balogun and after another fully committed display against Motherwell, it’s clear big Leon is Clement’s man alongside Connor Goldson.
Rangers wide options
Suggestions that Rangers had lost their width from the squad this summer with the exits of Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala appear to have been short-lived.
In the victory over Motherwell, Rangers started the game with Abdallah Sima on the left and Ross McCausland on the right.
Later in the match Welsh international Rabbi Matondo and then Scottish winger Scott Wright came off the bench.
Whilst other areas of the squad look decidedly short, suddenly Rangers have a series of options in the wide areas both from the start and from the bench.
