How Rangers gained final third superiority with underlapping full-backs

Rabbi Matondo and Fashion Sakala were brought in from the cold, while Ryan Jack partnered 18-year-old Leon King at the heart of defence in a new-look central defensive pairing. At opposite ends of both the pitch and age spectrum, Allan McGregor was given the nod between the posts and 18-year-old Robbie Ure led the line.

Most interesting, however, was the full-back arrangement. Highly-rated youngster Adam Devine was twinned with Ridvan Yilmaz – making only his second Rangers start after arriving from Besiktas for £3.4m – and the pair interspersed an otherwise sluggish performance with moments of quality.

“You look at the set up on the pitch and the opponent. That's why you saw the line-up you did,” said van Bronckhorst after the game.

Indeed, underpinning the attacking endeavour from both full-backs was a willingness to exploit space in Queen of the South’s defensive line with underlapping movements.

Willie Gibson’s side set-up in a 4-5-1 out of possession, making the pitch inaccessible through the centre for Rangers when they approached the final third. By deploying Matondo and Sakala on the sides, the Doonhamers were wary of allowing either player to drive inside.

As the ball is moved wide in the example below, Queen’s have a defensive overload against the Gers’ three attackers.

Defending man-for-man, Matondo’s movement out to the touchline to receive the pass from Davis creates a gap between the full-back and centre-back in the Queen of the South defensive line.

By virtue of being positioned on his markers blindside, Devine then sets off to attack the space from deep.

His pace takes him past his opponent, receiving a pass down the inside from Matondo.

He picks out Scott Arfield in the penalty area with an intelligent cut-back.

Earlier in the half, the 19-year-old threatened with a similar movement involving Matondo.

As Arfield collects the ball and looks to spread it wide, the Welshman pulls wide to edge of the penalty area.

Queen of the South are preoccupied by providing man-orientated pressure, forcing their left-back to jump onto Matondo.

In doing so, the space once again opens up in the visitors' defensive line.

By squeezing up to supplement Matondo, Devine then sets off to attack the space.

The Queen of the South left midfielder can only react to the movement of the 19-year-old full-back, allowing Devine to gain an advantage in the foot race and receive a pass from Matondo in a similar position.

He shoots at goal on this occasion, but it underlines the threatening areas that Rangers were able to release their full-backs into by creating underlapping situations.

Devine has been likened to former Rangers full-back Nathan Patterson in his ability to carry the ball powerfully from deep in the pitch. Indeed, his speed and athleticism when he is able to accelerate forward allows him to quickly exploit space created in the opponents’ defensive structure.

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Late on in the game, the 19-year-old arrows a pass infield.

Glen Kamara plays a quick lay-off pass into Matondo.

Instead of standing still, Devine spots the gap between the left-sided central defender and left-back in Queen of the South’s backline.

He gallops away from his marker before being played in by Matondo.

Only a heavy first touch lets him down, allowing a Queen’s central defender to usher across and provide a last-ditch challenge.

On the opposite flank, Rangers carved the away side open to restore their lead in the first half with a well-rehearsed underlapping movement involving Yilmaz and Sakala.

As Kamara looks to spread the ball out to the left, Yilmaz makes his initial movement inside from left full-back that is prompted by Sakala’s movement out to the touchline.

The Zambian receives the pass, forcing Queen of the South’s right-back out of the defensive line to provide immediate pressure.

In doing so, Yilmaz continues his underlapping run inside the right-back, before receiving a pass from Sakala.

As he has gained initial separation from his marker after his acceleration from deep on the pitch, he continues his momentum with a deft flick that gets him to the byline.

The Turkish international lifts his head and lays the ball on a plate for Arfield to stroke into the bottom corner.

“It was good to see Ridvan play. He’ll only get stronger in the coming games,” van Bronckhorst beamed post-match.

The 21-year-old offers a different dynamic to Borna Barisic in the left-back role. His superior mobility allows him to play inside the pitch more comfortably and receive on the half-turn.

Yilmaz prefers to deliver from the byline as opposed to crossing from the deep in the mould of the Croatian. Ryan Kent may have been absent from last night’s game, but Sakala often replicated the 26-year-old's touchline-hugging tendencies to allow Yilmaz to underlap.

In a performance that was impacted by the raft of changes, van Bronckhorst found solace in his full-back dynamic.