Sunday, 15 December 2019

motherwel 0 - 2 Rengers

Alfredo Morelos (right)
Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos (right) scored but was then sent off after gesturing to the home support
Rangers eased aside Motherwell - and remain two points adrift of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership - despite having Alfredo Morelos sent off for gesturing to fans after scoring.

After three games without a win, Steven Gerrard's side claimed victory to move briefly above Celtic until they beat Hibernian later on Sunday.

 Alfredo Morelos was dismissed after gesturing to Motherwell fansAlfredo Morelos was dismissed after gesturing to Motherwell fans
Nikola Katic and Morelos scored in either half, but the Colombian was shown a second yellow - and his first red card of the term - by Don Robertson in the immediate aftermath of his goal.


Morelos, who was dismissed five times last season with one later rescinded, had only been booked twice in this Premiership campaign before being cautioned for a foul on Jake Carroll 14 minutes before his sending off.

Motherwell, meanwhile, missed the chance to return to third place after a performance in which they rarely looked like taking something.

Morelos takes centre stage again

It had been the biggest week in Gerrard's Ibrox managerial career with three huge tests on three different fronts.

A place in the last 32 of the Europa League secured, but points were dropped in the title race and a cup final was lost.

Fir Park was another big obstacle against a Motherwell side that could have narrowed the gap on their opponents to four points if they could manage a first home win against them since 2002.

And the hosts threatened early, with Rangers captain James Tavernier's intervention stopping Devante Cole adding the finishing touch to Christopher Long's cut-back.

But the visitors showed little sign of weariness from Thursday's draw with Young Boys of Switzerland to get their noses in front after a spell of pressure.

Glen Kamara blasted over before Morelos twice forced fingertip saves from Motherwell goalkeeper Mark Gillespie, the second leading to a corner from which Borna Barisic picked out fellow Croat Katic. The defender proved too strong for Bevis Mugabi, shrugging him off to bullet a header home.

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