Have Rangers run their Premiership race after Motherwell defeat?

Motherwell stormed into a 2-0 lead and were deservedly ahead at the break. Lukas Fadinger and Emmanuel Longelo provided the decisive moments with fine finishes. The advantage was no more than Jens Berthel Askou's side merited.

The deficit was reduced early in the second half. Youssef Chermiti kept his composure to score his 12th goal of the campaign. His 13th came - or so it seemed - with 20 minutes remaining as he nodded home from close range. Or did the last touch come off Nico Raskin? It mattered little to Rangers.

A Manny Fernandez own goal was the final act in a captivating encounter. Was it the one that took the Premiership away from Rohl?

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Have Rangers run their race?

At 2-0, Rangers were beaten. At 2-2, they looked the more likely to win it. The decisive moment came in the closing stages but it was Motherwell who found it.

There have been plenty of twists and turns over the course of the campaign. Was this the one that ruled Rangers out of the title race? The momentum has been burst and time is not on their side.

Trips to Tynecastle and Parkhead now await. The dynamic has changed again, and not in Rohl’s favour. This was not the return to action that Rangers needed.

In 2019, Rangers returned from a January break to Tenerife with aspirations of the title. A defeat to Kilmarnock in the first match back set the tone for a Premiership collapse. The following year, a defeat to Hearts in game three saw the momentum punctured and a trip to Dubai was pinpointed by supporters as the reason for the failure under Steven Gerrard.

Rohl spoke about the benefits of the time in Marbella last week. It was put to good use off the park as talks were held with the recruitment team and the executive about plans for the summer transfer window.

He needed the impact on the park most of all, though. He didn’t get it. The dream is now hanging by a thread.

No fightback this time around

A return of 15 goals in four matches led Rangers supporters to believe that their issues in the final third had been solved. A shot-shy 45 minutes saw all of those old fears come back. This was so far off what Rohl would have expected and what he needed.

A Thelo Aasgaard free-kick in the opening stages was scooped over the bar. Another was worked at the edge of the area and was deflected wide. One corner from the left hit the first man and was greeted with a groan of frustration, another was collected unchallenged by Calum Ward as heads were put in hands all around Ibrox.

Rangers offered virtually nothing as an attacking presence. Djeidi Gassama had no impact at all on the left, while Chermiti and Bojan Miovski barely had a sniff. When the Portuguese got a couple of breaks of the ball and advanced into the area, his shot was cleared before it had a chance to nestle in the far corner.

His next chance saw the deficit reduced. Six minutes after the restart, Chermiti’s neat touch from a Mohamed Diomande pass left Paul McGinn on the deck. The finish was slotted beyond Ward.

If only he had done the same after Rangers worked the ball well and found Chermiti inside the area. He didn’t have to wait long for his second of the afternoon. Manny Fernandez nodded a corner back across goal and Chermiti took the acclaim. It could well have been Raskin that got the last touch.

Chermiti couldn’t make it 3-3 from yards out and Moore was denied from point-blank range. That was that.

Steelmen steal the show

Motherwell arrived at Ibrox on the back of some recent struggles and with a need to collect points for their own purposes as they seek a fourth place finish. The form book pointed to a Rangers win, but Motherwell have caused issues at various stages of the campaign. This was their finest day yet.

The 1-1 draw at Fir Park was a sign of things to come under Russell Martin. A narrow 1-0 win here was crucial at the time, while points were squandered on the return to Lanarkshire. Indeed, Rohl stressed on Friday that the visitors’ performances should take precedence over their results.

With 15 minutes on the clock, Fadinger opened the scoring. Motherwell worked the ball down the left channel and Fadinger’s low strike across goal beat Jack Butland.

Ibrox was silence. Ten minutes later it was stunned. Tom Sparrow provided a teasing cross from the right and Longelo scored at the back post. Motherwell were in the groove.

At 2-1, they still carried a threat. Tawanda Maswanhise’s shot was saved and James Tavernier hooked the ball away from Longelo.

The winner came with seconds to spare. Longelo advanced up the left, cut inside and put the ball into the area. Fernandez inadvertently diverted it beyond Butland.

Two up top didn’t work

Rohl has had plenty of time to deliberate over the main selection question. Would it be one striker or two? In the end, the German saw more opportunity than risk. Chermiti and Miovski started together for the first time this season and were flanked by Gassama and Aasgaard.

The downside of having two up top was that it left Rangers with only two in the middle of the park. Rohl’s side were not just outnumbered, they were outplayed and outclassed. Motherwell had everything with and without the ball that Rangers didn’t and a change half an hour in, never mind at half-time, would not have been out of the question.

Three switches were made at the break. Tavernier replaced Jayden Meghoma as Dujon Sterling moved to left-back, Tochi Chukwuani made way as Diomande was introduced and Mikey Moore took over from Miovski.

All three made a difference and all three made Rangers better. Ultimately, it was not good enough.

Ibrox reaction says it all

Every glance around Ibrox provoked memories of players, matches and successes. The Copland Collective organised a retro shirt day and urged supporters to dig out of favourites from the back of the wardrobes. The event saw funds raised for the Emmie Smillie Charity Foundation and in remembrance of former kitman Jimmy Bell.

There were shirts from the 70s and nine-in-a-row. Some paid homage to the last title triumph under Steven Gerrard, while others opted for those worn in the glory days under Dick Advocaat, Alex McLeish or in Walter Smith’s second tenure.

Flags and banners from RSCs were also on display around the stadium. In the Copland, Marvin Andrews’ message of ‘Keep Believing’ was emblazoned across a red, white and blue background. The man himself was front and centre of the tifo and he posed on the park with his arms outstretched in the pose made famous at Easter Road.

There were times when Ibrox channelled that spirit. Come the final whistle, the home crowd was left deflated and Rangers were defeated. Is that it all over?