For the first time ever, Steven Gerrard paired Gareth McAuley with Connor Goldson for a full 90 minutes yesterday.
Rangers routed Livingston 3-0 at Ibrox in a match that was perhaps a bit more nervy than the score-line suggests. Regardless, the Ibrox side once again showed their cutting edge in the final third to see off the West Lothian side.
Revenge was the main plot of the day, with Livingston having turned over Gerrard’s men at the Tony Macaroni Arena earlier on this season. But there was another of many interesting subplots heading into kick-off.
McAuley was making just his third Gers appearance, but it was his first as a starter. There were no surprises as to who he was partnered with – the stalwart that is Goldson.
All eyes would’ve been on how the pair fared in what was a tricky encounter on paper. Both, as you would expect, came through with flying colours. McAuley, for example, looked as composed as ever as he kept things simple on the ball and barely looked flustered.
Goldson, as is the norm, was his usual commanding self at the back. Having that experience of McAuley next to him seemed to settle the defence nicely, and it led to minimal work for Allan McGregor in the Rangers goal.
Just a few openings
That’s not to say Livi didn’t have their openings. A few scrambles in the box led to some half-chances, but there wasn’t anything concrete. The solid-looking centre-back partnership threw themselves in front of everything.
One game at home to Livingston certainly doesn’t make a partnership, but the signs were extremely positive. Considering the problems Rangers have had in that area since the introduction of Joe Worrall to the side, supporters are entitled to be excited by what they saw yesterday.
We all know Rangers are coming into their most defining period of the season. Therefore, having a shaky defence heading into matches against Hibernian, Hearts, Aberdeen, and Celtic respectively would’ve been a disaster.
Worrall and Nikola Katic will have watched the debut of the new centre-back pairing. If they weren’t concerned after viewing it, however, then there’s something wrong.
McAuley and Goldson are both fantastic readers of the game – that was proven yesterday. Now? Supporters deserve to see more of this partnership instead of the constant chopping and changing they’ve had to endure previously.
A promising start against Livi for the new pairing, but bigger tests await.
