Ryan Naderi's Impact Leads Rangers to Narrow Win Over Motherwell
Ryan Naderi stepped off the bench, pounced on a moment of madness, and dragged Rangers up to second in the Scottish Premiership with a narrow win over Motherwell at Ibrox.
It was a game decided by a single, scruffy goal. It could easily have been remembered for a long list of misses.
Naderi punishes Paulsen as Shankland limps off
Derek McInnes watched it all from high in the stand, serving the second match of a two-game touchline ban for comments made last season while at Hearts. From that vantage point, his afternoon threatened to unravel almost immediately.
Lawrence Shankland, the captain and focal point of Rangers’ attack, pulled up after barely nine minutes with what looked like an off-the-ball hamstring problem. He trudged off, visibly frustrated. McInnes later called it “significant” and admitted it may be a recurrence of last season’s issue.
On came Ryan Naderi. Three minutes later, he turned the mood.
Motherwell had been composed early on, but a routine passage of play at the back turned chaotic. A couple of loose touches from the centre-backs sent the ball rolling back towards Alex Paulsen. The goalkeeper tried to be clever, attempting to take on the pressing Naderi on the edge of his area.
He was caught cold.
Naderi nicked the ball cleanly, strode past the stranded Paulsen and rolled it into an empty net. He will struggle to find an easier finish all season, but the impact was enormous. Rangers led, McInnes’ anxiety eased, and Motherwell were suddenly chasing a game they had started well.
Pandur stands tall as Motherwell threaten
Rangers had the advantage, but Motherwell refused to disappear. Ivor Pandur, in the home goal, had to earn his clean sheet.
Regan Charles-Cook tested him first, driving a shot that Pandur beat away. Not long after, an excellent Motherwell counter carved Rangers open and released Alex Lowry, whose low effort was pushed aside by a sharp save down to the goalkeeper’s right.
At the other end, Rangers’ attacking verve was undermined by wastefulness and poor decisions. Minsu Kim, who would endure a torturous afternoon, headed straight at Pandur with a glorious chance. Then came the flashpoint that should have doubled the hosts’ lead.
Djeidi Gassama attacked a Dan Neil cross and was clattered into by Tom Sparrow inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot. With Shankland already off, Minsu took responsibility. He dragged his penalty wide, squandering the opportunity and handing Motherwell a lifeline.
The miss hung over the game. Ibrox groaned. McInnes, still in the stand, could only watch.
More chances go begging as Rangers fail to kill it
After the break, the pattern continued: Rangers on the front foot, Motherwell hanging on, both sides ruing their finishing.
Minsu again found himself in position to atone, bursting through only to be denied by Paulsen, who stood up well to block. The rebound cannoned off the post. The South Korean’s day ended shortly after, withdrawn along with Gassama as McInnes turned to his bench.
On came Daisuke Yokota and Kevin Kelsy, the latter handed his Rangers debut and the chance to make an instant impact.
The pressure kept coming. Nico Raskin saw a goal-bound effort hacked off the line. Yokota then sliced horribly wide with the goal gaping, another moment that should have settled the contest.
Kelsy had his moment too. Set up in a promising position, he leaned back and sent his shot sailing over, the debut goal and the gloss on the performance vanishing into the Govan sky.
Motherwell, somehow, remained alive. They had already forced Pandur into those two key first-half saves and, as Alfred Johansson later pointed out, even on a bad day they created chances that might have flipped the story.
McInnes satisfied with performance, worried about Shankland
From the stand, McInnes saw a display he liked, but a scoreline that did not reflect it.
“It was a very strong performance; it was more than the scoreline suggested,” he said afterwards. “We restricted a very good Motherwell team. I’m just annoyed and a bit frustrated that we didn’t add to our lead.”
His biggest concern, though, walked off after nine minutes.
“It looks like a significant hamstring injury for Lawrence Shankland and it might be a recurrence of the one he had at Hearts last season,” McInnes admitted. “He’s a bit down about things and he might be out for a while.”
Yet he was quick to point to the depth that had just delivered three points.
“I think Shankland has benefitted from the extra attacking impetus we’ve had. He was in good form but it’s all about the squad and players now need to step up. Kelsy was good on his debut and Naderi got his goal; we’ve got quality to lean on.”
Johansson sees ‘potential’ in defeat
Johansson cut a realistic figure. His side were second best, but not outclassed.
“Congratulations to Rangers; they were the better team, they deserved the three points today,” he said. “We didn’t play to our best today and they got the game they wanted. The game is there for us to do better, but we didn’t do it.”
He refused to dwell on Paulsen’s mistake, despite it deciding the contest.
“Alex Paulsen is a great goalkeeper who has shown that again and again and again. He showed that today. The mistake isn’t even a point for me today.”
Instead, Johansson chose to look at what his players could take from the loss.
“When I watch the video and when I show the video to my players they will see the potential. We are on a bad day creating a couple of chances, which could’ve made a big difference. Rangers will feel they should have at least two more and we stayed in the game so that’s a positive.”
Rangers, though, will not dwell on the chances they left out there. They have climbed to second, found a new match-winner in Naderi, and seen promising signs from Kelsy and Yokota.
The price might be Shankland’s hamstring. How long their captain spends on the sidelines could shape what this surge up the table really means.
