Rangers defender John Souttar has impressed

Sat 2 March 2024 17:04, UK

Rangers missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Motherwell on Saturday 2 March.

Philippe Clement’s side fell behind after nine minutes at Ibrox when Theo Blair capitalised on a defensive error to break the deadlock, but it seemed as though the Gers were set for a second-half comeback when James Tavernier slotted home from the penalty spot.

But it was the away side who managed to find a late winner as Dan Casey headed home with 15 minutes to play to hand Celtic a golden opportunity to move top of the Premiership when they face Hearts on Sunday (3 March).

Ibrox News have rated the Gers players out of 10;

Jack Butland – 5

The England international has been in wonderful form this season and could do little to prevent the away side’s opener. Butland will have been disappointed not to keep the second goal out as he got a big touch on the ball before it ended up in the net. Hopefully, it was just a slight wobble and nothing for supporters to be worried about.

James Tavernier – 6

As he so often does the Gers captain stood up and performed when his side needed him as he thundered in his second-half penalty to get the Light Blues level. But it was the right-back’s man who headed home the away side’s winner as he drifted away from Tavernier and peeled off into the back post.

Connor Goldson – 6

Goldson has been a consistent presence at centre-back throughout the season and he was once again strong throughout Saturday’s clash, barring a stray elbow to the face midway through the second half. However, the centre-back simply had to score with his late effort and his miss proved costly for Clement’s side.

John Souttar – 3

Huge mistake for the away side’s opener as he came flying across the field before completely missing the bouncing ball in terrible fashion. The centre-back has looked slightly shaky in recent weeks with a couple of sloppy errors and while he improved as the game went on, he didn’t fill his teammates with much confidence.

Ridvan Yilmaz – 7

Seemed to be one of the players caught out by Motherwell’s free-kick ahead of their opening goal. After a couple of stray passes in the opening exchanges, the Turkish defender improved as the game wore on with some excellent passes and balls into the penalty area. Best of a bad bunch. When fit, Yilmaz has to start ahead of Borna Basiric.

Mohammed Diomande – 5

The midfielder nearly scored with a spectacular acrobatic effort in the first half. Didn’t do too much in the contest, but did lose the ball on the edge of the penalty area moments before the winning goal. Diomande has impressed in his short Rangers career but he wasn’t at his best on Saturday.

John Lundstram – 5

The 30-year-old wasn’t at his best but didn’t really put a foot wrong in the contest. Like so many in a Light blue shirt, he struggled to create any real goalscoring chances despite a couple of breaking runs towards the byline. Still was far from awful but not to his usual high standards.

Will Rangers and Philippe Clement sell Nicolas Raskin during the summer transfer window?

Nicolas Raskin – 3

Raskin was preferred to Tom Lawrence in the starting XI but the Belgian midfielder did very little to justify his selection. The 23-year-old lost most of his duels both in the air and on the ground and failed to create anything with the ball himself before he was hooked at half-time. Clement’s patience must be wearing thin with the midfielder and you have to wonder if he may be sold this summer.

Ross McCausland – 6

The Northern Irish international was bright on the left flank for much of the first half before he was wiped out by a reckless challenge. Hopefully, McCausland won’t be sidelined for too long as the Gers already have far too many wingers on the treatment table at the moment.

Dujon Sterling – 5

Sterling replaced Oscar Cortes in the more advanced role on Saturday and it was clear that the former Chelsea man isn’t an out-and-out winger as he had a couple of poor moments in the final third, especially when he fired an excellent chance well wide of the post. A lot of the wingers in Clement’s squad are stuck on the treatment table so the Belgian may have to stick with Sterling for the foreseeable.

Cyriel Dessers – 4

The striker who has been in fine form this season just wasn’t at the races on Saturday as he spurned several great chances and seemed consistently out of sorts. Never seemed to be in the right place for balls into the penalty area, instead spent a lot of time moaning towards the referee and complaining that his teammates hadn’t found him in the penalty area.

Substitutes:

Fabio Silva – 6

The Portuguese loanee replaced McCausland in the first half and did well to win the penalty in the second half. He’s still lacking that bit of quality in the final third but it was another good display from the Wolves man.

Tom Lawrence – 6

Kemar Roofe – N/A

In other Rangers news, Clement shared a “serious” update on Oscar Cortes’ fitness ahead of Saturday’s kick-off at Ibrox

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