Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Rangers gamble at Motherwell pays off - but there is some collateral damage

On a day when Giovanni van Bronckhorst seemed to have placed all his eggs in a Europa League-shaped basket, Rangers displayed resilience and resourcefulness to maintain their hopes of retaining the Premiership title.

It certainly didn’t look that way when the reigning Scottish champions were reduced to 10 men after just 28 minutes at Fir Park, defender Leon Balogun shown a straight red card which means he will be suspended for next Sunday’s Old Firm game at Celtic Park.

Rangers were leading at that stage through a Liam Kelly own goal but soon found themselves pegged back by Ross Tierney’s goal seven minutes after Balogun was sent off.

Yet if there was any element of risk in van Bronckhorst’s decision to make eight changes to his starting line-up with the first leg of the Europa League semi-final against RB Leipzig in Germany on Thursday very much in mind, the gamble paid off as his players dug deep to claim all three points with an impressive second half display.

Scott Wright, one of the fringe men drafted into the starting line-up, restored their lead with a stylish finish before James Tavernier wrapped up victory from the penalty spot. It was the Rangers captain’s 80th goal for the Ibrox club, his 40th successful conversion from 12 yards.

It reduced Celtic’s lead over Rangers at the top of the Premiership to three points ahead of Sunday’s trip to Ross County for Ange Postecoglou’s men.

Van Bronckhorst has urged his squad to step up and prove themselves amid the adversity which this week saw Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey added to an injury list which already deprives him of the services of Alfredo Morelos and Ianis Hagi.

This was an encouraging response for the Dutch coach, although he will hope to avoid any further