After Celtic officially secured the Scottish Premiership title on Wednesday, we at Rangers News looked at the games that lost the league for Rangers this season.
Dundee United 1-0 Rangers
The club’s first league defeat in 40 games and it was a deserved one.
Rangers looked slow, lacklustre, and bereft of ideas going forward – something that would continue throughout the first half of the season.
Dundee United took a deserved lead through Robson and never really looked back.
Rangers did not recover at all and looked as if they were living off last season’s success, something that is never acceptable at Rangers.
This was a clear sign that the team of 20/21 was no more, and changes were going to have to be made.
Rangers 1-1 Motherwell
A day that promised so much but delivered so little.
This was the official ‘flag day’ to celebrate the club’s 55th title, the club’s first in ten years and Steven Gerrard asked that it would be a sombre occasion so that the players could focus on this season, and in particular this match.
Clearly, that never worked as Motherwell came away from Ibrox with a deserved point.
Sakala scored his first Rangers goal from what really was an offside position, but after allowing Motherwell back into the game, the equalised through Woolery in the second half.
Another important moment from this day is that at the same time, Livingston defeated Celtic 1-0 at the Tony Macaroni and had Rangers won that day, gone a huge six points clear?
Could things have been different had Rangers won that day?
Rangers 1-1 Hearts
A stuffy performance that got a much-needed sparkle when John Lundtram’s long range effort fired Rangers into the lead.
It looked like Rangers were going to limp to a vital three points until a last-minute goal from Craig Halkett allowed a then unbeaten Hearts to continue their impressive run.
This personified the performances of the side until Gerrard’s departure which were below par, the only difference is the team was also dropping points now.
Ross County 3-3 Rangers
Disaster struck in Dingwall as another last-minute goal cost Rangers two vital points against Malky MacKay’s side.
Loanee Amad Diallo had an impressive start to his Rangers career, scoring after just five minutes and it looked to be a routine win for the champions.
Defensive errors allowed Ross County to score two quick goals and Rangers knew going into the second half that they had to dig deep to get the points.
They did just that, with James Tavernier and Connor Goldson scoring to put Rangers in the lead until another defensive error cost Rangers in the last minute and the game ended 3-3.
This game allowed Celtic the opportunity to go top of the league with a victory in the next Old Firm game at Parkhead, giving them the confidence to do just that.
Rangers 2-2 Motherwell
Another Motherwell game at Ibrox, but this one was to be more disappointing than the first.
Rangers looked to be in control of the game, leading 2-0 at half-time, until disaster struck and the light blues were pegged back to 2-2.
Alfredo Morelos did have the ball in the net later but was harshly ruled offside, giving Motherwell a credible point at Ibrox.
Whilst hindsight is a wonderful thing, statistically if all those draws were converted into victories, then Rangers would be two points clear at the top of the table.
The one common denominator with the draws – Rangers had the lead in every one of those games.
Rangers’ inability to hold out in games against the ‘smaller teams’ has cost them dearly this season, and this is something that Giovanni van Bronckhorst will need to improve on next season.
Can Rangers bounce back next season and win 56?
