Rangers recorded their fourth straight league win under Danny Rohl with a 2-1 victory against Livingston, on a day where they looked certain to drop points for large stretches of the game.
Manny Fernandez scored the opener from a set piece before the effective Tete Yengi levelled things. In an end-to-end second period, where the visitors arguably shaded chances, Mo Diomande’s goal 10 minutes from time sealed three points.
The Rangers Review dissects the key talking points from Ibrox below.
A win that leaves question marks
Rohl’s side opened the scoring for the third time in four league games from a set piece this afternoon, from the first corner taken under new set-piece coach Scott Fry, no less. Fernandez’s bullet header after his side isolated him in the Livingston block ought to have eased nerves and provided a platform to control this match, but instead, the away side were soon back level.
There was an ease and simplicity to Yengi’s equaliser that flattened the atmosphere built momentarily after the opener, a long ball over the top from the visitor’s own half saw the striker, a handful all afternoon, beat Nasser Djiga all too easily, latching onto the ball ahead of a lackadaisical Jack Butland.
From there, Ibrox hosted a nervy home crowd until the break. Indeed, it was David Martindale’s side who created the best chance of a second before half time when Yengi saw another counterattack end with a shot blocked at the back post.
It wasn’t until Djeidi Gassama sent a shot wide of the post after a counterattack just before 70 minutes that Rohl’s side could boast of a genuine second-half chance, which came either side of two Livingston attacks that were just as promising, the second prompting a one-on-one save from Butland as Yengi raced through on goal.
Mo Diomande’s winner, profiting from a long ball that Bojan Miovski tapped into his path, had to be checked by VAR to stand. Ibrox let out a roar of belief on a Saturday they thought sure to be spoiled.
Rohl’s side wins four in a row
Although Rohl’s overall record heading into this recent international break read three wins and three defeats, a trio of victories in the league had quietly offered the chance for some momentum. The visit of Livingston before next week’s meeting here with Falkirk offered the very real prospect of extending that run to five pre-match.
But the words ‘routine’ and ‘Rangers’ have rarely run in the same sentence these past few years. This was the type of afternoon where energy and atmosphere needed to be provided on the pitch first and although the lead was established through Fernandez, control was so fleeting.
For the money spent this summer once again the lack of a discernible spine, individuals to drag others up to their level, was nowhere to be seen. Doubt crept into passes that went backwards instead of forwards, with Livingston setting the tone. By the hour mark, they’d managed 1.06xG to the hosts’ 0.42.
The stats come the end of the game, reading 1.4 to 1.52xG is a demonstration that very conceivably this game could’ve gone the other way. Rohl will know the importance of wins trumps all right now, but this squad won’t keep picking them up if they perform like this.
How did a new centre-back pairing fare?
Rohl required a list for Friday’s press conference, such was the number of injuries to report. The most troubling entries were John Souttar and Derek Cornelius, out for a month and longer, respectively.
It resulted in Fernandez making only his second league start alongside Djiga, who hasn’t kicked on from a promising first few matches this season. Clinton Nsiala, frozen out under Russell Martin and left out of first-team training for weeks prior to Rohl’s arrival, made a matchday squad for the first time this season.
Despite Fernandez’s confidence-booster of a goal, the remainder of the first period provoked little in the way of confidence from either centre-back, although Fernandez did have a better second period. Passes were sloppy, like those offered by Nico Raskin ahead of them, and Yengi always looked the likelier in duels.
When a shot from the forward was blocked by Fernandez soon after the equaliser, it was notable just how little resistance Rangers provided as a team to Martindale’s men progressing forwards. Djiga in particular allowed his nervousness to rub off on others. It is not an area of the pitch that Rangers had planned to invest in in January, but given the lack of a player to build around at present, they may have to.
Did anyone take their chance?
An injury to Moore presented Oliver Antman with his first start for the club since being hooked by Rohl in Norway, during a debut 3-0 defeat against Brann. Fresh from a goal on international duty, this felt like an afternoon for the Finnish winger to take his chance, having not come close to topping a debut performance against Viktoria Plzen. He would be replaced by Nedim Bajrami on the hour after another ineffectual showing.
The same could be said for Thelo Aasgaard. The Norwegian has shown flashes of skill without running games from the middle, or adding the goals to this midfield; his arrival from Luton was supposed to. Starting for the first time since he was sent off at Hampden calamitously against Celtic, Asgaard international was replaced by Bojan Miovski at half time and could have no complaints at Rohl’s decision.
They weren’t alone, as a team the pressure on the ball was negligible for much of the afternoon. Jayden Meghoma was booked for halting a set-piece in the second half, just seconds after Raskin misjudged a ball at the edge of the box in a trend that populated the whole afternoon. Once again, Rohl was looking to his bench for inspiration, with his starters failing to offer it. Nedim Bajrami, it’s worth noting, was brighter from the bench.
Although Miovski didn’t score his goal contribution should boost confidence, while Diomande’s winner was his first of the season. Truly, though, this was a win and no more.
Set-piece coach arrives
As revealed exclusively earlier this week by the Rangers Review the appointment of Scott Fry as set-piece coach this week was a move backed by Rohl, who wants a coach focused 24/7 on defensive and attacking scenarios. Fry’s first walk to the edge of the technical area for Rangers’ first corner resulted in a first goal, a difficult ratio to maintain, admittedly. And it was a clever routine with the hosts working space for Fernandez to dart into before a delivery was cushioned into the zone he subsequently scored from.
As aforementioned, this is the third time in four games that Rohl’s men have opened the scoring from a corner or free-kick in the league. It is a promising sign in the German’s early stretches in the job and one that he knows will be vital to retain as inconsistencies elsewhere remain.
Why are there still huge recruitment questions
While questioning Rangers’ merits, they did once again find a way to win and that is so important at the moment. With that said, Rohl’s side will face much better sides in the coming weeks and need some who they parted with serious cash this summer to start delivering some real contributions.
This was a game we’ve seen before. A fragile home team, anxious defending, a crowd agitated rather than entertained. All familiar problems, but ones that have been exacerbated by this summer rather than solved by the significant spending. Had Robbie Muirhead found the net from close range in added time, the full-time mood would’ve been very different.
Rangers required a spine of their team to build around this summer, instead they have recruited a number of players who look to need leading themselves presently. That is most obviously shown by the lack of control on afternoons like this, which become end-to-end affairs, suiting the opposition. Livingston were happy to sit off Rangers’ defence and profit from mistakes, because they arrived with such regularity.
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