Rangers Edge Past Motherwell Amid Shankland Injury Concern
Ryan Naderi punished a calamitous defensive error to fire Rangers past Motherwell and up to second in the Scottish Premiership – on a night when Derek McInnes’ joy was tempered by a worrying injury to captain Lawrence Shankland.
The Rangers manager, serving the second game of a two-match touchline ban, watched from the Ibrox stands as his side ground out a 1-0 win that should have been far more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.
Shankland blow, Naderi lifeline
The evening started badly for McInnes. Motherwell began with purpose, snapping into challenges and pushing Rangers back, and then came the sight every Rangers supporter dreaded: Shankland pulling up after barely nine minutes with what looked like a recurrence of last season’s hamstring problem.
He tried to carry on. He couldn’t. Naderi was summoned from the bench earlier than anyone expected.
Three minutes later, he changed the game.
Motherwell’s centre-backs hesitated, a couple of slack touches turning a routine passage of play into a crisis. The ball was nudged back to goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, who inexplicably chose to dribble rather than clear his lines. Naderi smelled panic, hunted him down on the edge of the box and nicked the ball away before rolling it into an empty net.
It was the simplest finish he will have all season. The hard work was in the chase.
Pandur stands tall as Motherwell threaten
That early gift might have knocked the fight out of some sides. Motherwell didn’t fold. They forced Rangers to defend and, more than once, forced Ivor Pandur to justify his selection.
First, Regan Charles-Cook cut inside and drove in a low effort that Pandur beat away. Then, after a slick counter-attack, Alex Lowry found space and looked certain to score, only for the Rangers goalkeeper to get down sharply to his right and turn the ball aside.
At the other end, Rangers kept carving out chances without landing the knockout blow.
Minsu Kim, who would endure a night to forget, squandered his first big opening when he met a cross but headed straight at Paulsen. The pressure did not relent. Djeidi Gassama attacked another delivery from Dan Neil and was clattered by Tom Sparrow in the box, leaving the referee with little choice but to point to the spot.
With Shankland already off, Minsu took responsibility. He dragged his penalty wide.
Ibrox groaned. Motherwell breathed again.
Missed chances keep game alive
The pattern after the break barely changed. Rangers controlled territory, Motherwell clung on and waited for their moment.
Minsu almost redeemed himself when he burst through and forced Paulsen into a strong save, the rebound cannoning off the post to safety. It summed up his evening. Moments later he was withdrawn, along with Gassama, as McInnes turned to Daisuke Yokota and handed a debut to Kevin Kelsy.
The fresh legs sparked more openings. Nico Raskin saw a goal-bound effort hacked off the line with Paulsen beaten. Yokota then sliced horribly wide with the goal gaping, a chance that begged to be finished.
Kelsy, eager to mark his first appearance with a goal, found space in the box but leaned back and lashed his shot over. The gloss on the performance never came.
Motherwell, for all their struggles, stayed in the contest right to the end. They created enough to irritate McInnes and encourage Alfred Johansson. On a day when they were far from their best, they still forced Rangers to sweat.
McInnes pleased, but worried
From his vantage point in the stand, McInnes saw both the promise and the problem.
He praised the collective display, insisting Rangers’ dominance deserved more than a single-goal margin. His side restricted what he called “a very good Motherwell team” and carried an attacking threat throughout. Yet the failure to kill the game left him “annoyed and a bit frustrated”.
More concerning was Shankland. McInnes admitted it looks like “a significant hamstring injury” and possibly a recurrence of last season’s issue at Hearts. The striker, in strong form and central to Rangers’ attacking structure, could be out for a while.
The manager pointed to the depth around him. Naderi took his chance. Kelsy showed flashes on debut. There is, as he put it, “quality to lean on”.
Johansson, meanwhile, refused to hang Paulsen out to dry for the decisive mistake. He backed his goalkeeper, highlighting the saves that kept Motherwell alive and insisting the error “isn’t even a point” for him compared to the team’s overall performance level.
He knows, though, that the video will sting. On a bad day, Motherwell still carved out opportunities that could have transformed the contest. Rangers, equally, will feel they left at least two goals out there.
The table will only remember the three points. The real question now is whether Rangers can keep climbing while their captain faces another battle with injury – and who steps up next when the next big chance arrives.
