Rangers limped to a 0-0 draw with Falkirk to leave them fourth in the league table, in what was another underwhelming performance in front of an irate Ibrox.
The visitors had their share of dangerous moments on the day, albeit mostly through Rangers' own making, and may consider themselves unfortunate not to pick up their first league win in Govan for a century. Had they shown a little more edge in key moments, that could well have been the case.
While Danny Rohl remains undefeated in the Scottish Premiership, it was once again a performance that offered more questions than answers as Rangers were devoid of any real quality going forward. They end the weekend sitting fourth in the table.
Winning run comes to an end
Five league wins in a row was the carrot for Rangers, who looked to be building some sort of consistency under Rohl despite the limited quality at his disposal.
However, the momentum gained under the German, has been firmly halted by a frustrating and drab afternoon at Ibrox. It was a performance from the Light Blues that will not come as a surprise to anyone who has watched the team this year, but was still rightly met with concerns about how equipped this team is to crack the top two without major surgery next month.
As the Rangers Review wrote on Saturday, this has been coming. The underlying numbers suggested that if more chances weren't created soon, the luck would run out. Indeed, on a day when the home side managed just three shots that found the target, this looked like a mid-table game between two mid-table teams.
Rangers create little to test Falkirk
Nedim Bajrami came in from the proverbial cold under Rohl to start the afternoon on the left wing in place of Djeidi Gassama, who was on the bench following his wife giving birth this weekend.
The Albanian offered an early spark inside six minutes when he slipped a teasing ball towards goal, which was ultimately cleared. Late in the half drew a yellow card for Dylan Tait with a rare driving run, before working a route through the defence, only to curl an effort wide.
He then missed Rangers' best chance with 65 minutes gone. Gassama led the charge towards goal, chopped back inside and rifled an effort goal-ward that was parried out by Scott Bain. The loose ball fell into the path of the arriving Bajrami, but he couldn’t convert.
That aside, the home side created almost nothing. Once again, when charged with finding solutions in the final third, none were provided.
Will Falkirk see this as a missed chance?
John McGlynn’s side have been impressing this season with their attractive brand of play and marquee results that saw them firmly in the top six ahead of kick-off.
Ibrox presented a stage for a more pragmatic display that we have perhaps become accustomed to from the Bairns. Organised and cohesive, there was a steady base that allowed Calvin Miller to inhabit the space on the shoulder of Nasser Djiga and Emmanuel Fernandez, looking to close gaps between the much scrutinised centre back pairing.
Substitute Alfredo Agyemang almost took advantage of some calamitous Rangers defending in the second period. Jack Butland’s clearance ricocheted off the striker before Djiga failed to clear his lines as panic ensued in the stands before Rangers recovered.
While there wasn't the moment the visitors desired, they'll know that with a little more poise, a win was realistic. Indeed, it is fair to say McGlynn’s side would've been disappointed to have only left Govan with a point.
This club have a big issue at No.9
There was a time in not too distant past that Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane provoked frustration and jeers from the Rangers support. How they would love either of those players back in the starting 11. Youssef Chermiti missed the meeting with Falkirk due to illness, but would’ve been unlikely to start given his less-than-impressive showing on Thursday night.
His replacement, Bojan Miovski, did little to convince fans that he was the answer to the side's problem at the sharp end of the pitch once again. Albeit the service coming from those around him, particularly Oliver Antman and Thelo Aasgaard, left a lot to be desired. The figure who looked lethal during his time at Aberdeen appears to have carried the scar tissue from his troubled time at Girona with him to Govan.
Fans calling for Findlay Curtis got their wish when the 19-year-old was introduced with a quarter of an hour remaining. By that point, both sides seemed to have accepted a point.
Same issues despite the line-up
Rohl switched out the entire front four from the flat midweek draw in Europe. They did not have the buoyant effect he was hoping for from the off, however. The manager spent much of the early stages clamouring for more intensity from his side, who looked to be stuck in second gear for much of the first half. The Ibrox crowd made their feelings clear about the tired tempo, with a frosty reception at the end of both halves.
Antman announced himself to the Rangers support with a bang against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifiers this summer, but has failed to live up to the hype ever since. Another opportunity from the start passed the Finnish winger by as he continually ran down blind alleys and offered little by way of a creative spark, before being replaced before the hour mark.
Aasgaard joined his teammate on the sideline when he was hooked ten minutes later, with his chance creation equally as sparse. With every passing game ,it seems imperative that the lack of invention in the final third is addressed this January window.
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