A Point Gained, but could it have been more? || Motherwell vs Rangers Analysis

Well… what is there to say about that?

In another game in which Motherwell just never seemed to give, it was a point rescued against The Rangers. Both sides came into this one in fine form, and with their own motives for collecting three points: the Bears were looking to extend the gap between us and themselves, and reel in Hearts at the top of the table ahead of their mouth-watering clash at Ibrox. For the Steelmen, it was an opportunity to close the gap above, and solidify our place in the top 4.

The Well went into this game with a point to prove, following some closely contested contests with our opponents this season already (a 1-1 draw against Martin's Rangers, before a narrow and closely contested 1-0 loss to Rohl's at Ibrox).

The Well lined up in the usual 4-2-3-1, with 3 changes from our last outing at Livingston; Out went Johnny Koutroumbis, Oscar Priestman and Tom Sparrow. Replacing them were Emmanuel Longelo, Elliot Watt -returning from injury - and Stephen Welsh, following his return to Fir Park on deadline day. RCC returned to the bench following his injury layoff, replacing the now departed Apostolos Stamatelopolous.

As for the visitors, Danny Röhl made some changes, which were widely questioned by the blue half of Glasgow. Was it due to the impending crunch game with the Jambos? Or was it to freshen up the side after they played in midweek against Queens Park, while the Well were well rested? Who knows...but alas. From the Gers last Premiership outing at Killie, Röhl made two changes. Thelo Asgaard and Bojan Miovski dropped out, and in their place stepped new boy Tochi Chukwuani and Youssef Chermiti. The main surprise for most supporters with this line-up was the fact that new signings such as Tuur Rommens, Ryan Naderi and Skov Olsen being left out the starting XI (and in Naderi's case, out the squad entirely). The other murmurs of discontent from the blue support was Emmanuel Fernandez being left on the bench also.

A slow start?

As members of the Dispatch arrived at Fir Park and struggled to find seats (a great thing to behold!), the first 3/4 minutes or so can't be account for. A quick bit of play was caught however. A clipped pass by Ward saw O'Donnell break into the midfield. Some scrappy play by Slattery before a pass back to SOD, and a ball into the box broke to Longelo. A strike straight at Butland, before a volleyed rebound flew over the bar. What we can account for was as soon as bums touched seats we were 1-0 down. Some good passing play from Rangers saw Diomande break free of Slattery in Gers' final third. A storming run from the Gers number 10 saw them progress rapidly forward. The defence seemed to switch off and a fantastic ball from Diomande broke the backline, seeing Nicolas Raskin through one on one with Ward. Raskin cooly slotted home, and that became the first goal the Well conceded at Fir Park since the 19th of October. 6 minutes in, a goal down had the potential to knock the stuffing out of us - and let the Gers push on - but credit to the boys in Claret and Amber, they continued to play the way we know how.

A freekick from Slattery palmed away by Butland threatened to see us come back into the fold, but Rangers kept going forward. A long range strike from Chukwuani whistled by the post. The Well continued to press, and Slattery just overplaying a ball through to Tawanda nearly saw us in. A great ball from O'Donnell saw the Warrior sneak in behind John Souttar, but a heavy touch took him wide. With a critical eye, the square pass to Slattery was on for a tap in, but Tawanda elected to shoot, forcing a save from Butland onto the post. A goal-kick followed, naturally.

A free-kick from Just found O'Donnell in the box, and a ball played down into the ground looped over and threatened to end up in the net, but Raskin came out of nowhere and cleared off the line. Again, a goal-kick followed...but the signs were there. The Well were threatening, and chances were coming. We just needed to keep it tight and not make any silly mistakes...right?

A ball played forward was flicked on by Mickey Moore, and seemed easy to deal with. Welsh heads the ball into Chermiti, and somehow he was one-on-one with Ward. Luckily for the Well, another strike straight at the keeper, and a block from SOD saved us.

Some good play mixed in with scrapping for the ball saw Said get through, with his shot blocked by Souttar. The following block came from Souttar's arm via Slattery's strike, and whether we believe it's a pen or not, nothing given. Frustratingly, from that scenario, Rangers were awarded a freekick. We wish we could explain what for but, to be frank, we have no idea.

Second Half Pressure

The second half began much in a similar vain as the first ended. The Well did make a change, with Elliot Watt being replaced by Oscar Priestman. Some near attempts for Said and Maswanhise, before a potential penalty shout after a nudge on Slattery. Just's complaints seemed to cross a line for the referee as a yellow card was flashed the New Zealander’s way. Great play from Priestman, Just and Said saw Just force a save from Butland at his near post.

On 75 minutes the potential for the game to swing away from Motherwell came. A ball down the wing for Moore saw an opportunity for a Rangers break. Lukas Fadinger took matters into his own hands and flew into the tackle. We need to be honest, on initial viewing within the ground, we thought a yellow was par for the course. We were shocked due to the ref's performance at this point that he didn't flash a red immediately. VAR intervened, and upon second viewing, the ref changed his mind, and Fadinger was off. 10 men, 1-0 down, 15 minutes left. the Odds were stacked against us. And yet...

Welsh and the boys celebrate a well deserved equaliser

The Well pushed on. A great ball in from McGinn found Bjrgolfsson, who did everything right bar score, denied by Butland. The resulting corner led to another corner, and from there, scenes ensued. Patient play on the left hand side found Sam Nicholson, who's cross field ball found Bjrgolfsson in the box. The big man headed it back across goal, and who else but Stephen Welsh was there to smash it into the net via the post.

Like this so far? There’s so much more to come in the fanzine!

Issue 3 on Pre-Order now!

What can we see from the stats? Well...it was a usual performance from the Steelmen. Having an Old Firm team at Fir Park with less than 50% possession, never mind less than 40%, is quite astonishing. More shots, more shots on target, double the touches in the opposition box. Remarkable reading. The only disappointment is, despite those stats, Rangers had a higher xG (albeit slight, 1.6 to our 1.4) and had more big chances compared to ours, perhaps highlighting that Rangers creatively were a better side. However, just about every other positive metric went in Motherwell's favour.

From a personal perspective, the fact we went into this game feeling, or expecting, a chance to take all 3 points is an indicator of how far we have come in just over half a season. The fact when we went 1-0 down, we didn't worry, always feeling we'd get back into the game. With a man down there still wasn't a feeling of panic from us, still confident we'd get our chance. And ultimately, even though we got our equaliser, and finished the game with a point after being reduced to 10, we were still disappointed we left without all 3 points. We've come so far in such a short space of time, and this still could just be the beginning.

There is one piece of analysis we feel is vital to highlight. The standard of refereeing in Scotland is appalling.

Both for us and against us. Time wasting, fouls given inconsistently in comparison to others, persistent fouling unpunished. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The performance from McLean in midweek was consistent with performances we’ve seen across the board for all teams and all competitions. We don’t have to look back too far in our own experiences to see injustices that have both benefitted us and hindered us. It needs sorted, and that’s from the bottom up and the top down. This is not some “oh woe is poor Motherwell” plea, we genuinely believe Rangers’ penalty should have been given, but got he inconsistency within games never mind from one match to the next is, quite frankly, strangling the game.

Regardless, Motherwell have still only lost one game at home this season, drawing 4 and winning 8. We've conceded only 6 goals at home, and scored 23 in the process. A tremendous record, making Fir Park the fortress we knew it could be. The fans have returned or arrived in their droves, and should be commended as much as they have been by the club and more.

Finally, a for congratulations must be extended to Paul McGinn from all at the Dispatch for reaching 550 games in his career.

Captain. Leader. Legend.