Rangers blow chance to close gap on Celtic as Motherwell stun Ibrox

After the fevered high of Thursday night under the lights at Ibrox, Rangers and their supporters slipped despondently back to earth as they allowed a glorious opportunity to close within a point of Celtic at the top of the Premiership to pass them by.

Leading 2-0 at the break and utterly dominant, they were pegged back in the second half by a dogged Motherwell side who then defended for their lives to claim a precious point.

It leaves the reigning champions still three points behind their Old Firm rivals in a title race which now has 10 rounds of fixtures remaining.

Rangers have now dropped 11 points in their eight league games since the winter break, the kind of damaging form manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst will need to address smartly.

The hum of electricity in the air at Ibrox on this Sunday afternoon was never going to match the atmosphere engendered when Borussia Dortmund were memorably dispatched from the Europa League.

But the news of Celtic’s dropped points at Easter Road ensured the Rangers fans were suitably re-energised as they made their way into the stadium. They left the ground with shoulders slumped, stunned by their team’s failure to see out a victory.

Van Bronckhorst’s players had tapped into that early mood as they set about trying to take full advantage of their rivals’ own mis-step against Hibs. It was generally one-way traffic from the off as Motherwell struggled to cope with the pace and movement of their hosts.

Alfredo Morelos was unfortunate not to grab the opener with just over 60 seconds on the clock, his effort hitting the crossbar as Rangers dissected the Motherwell defence.

Liam Kelly’s goal was under siege and the Motherwell ‘keeper heroically kept Rangers at bay with a couple of