Ryan Naderi's Goal Lifts Rangers Past Motherwell in Premiership Clash

Ryan Naderi pounced on a defensive calamity to fire Rangers past Motherwell at Ibrox and lift Derek McInnes’ side up to second in the Scottish Premiership.

It was the simplest of finishes. The significance felt anything but.

McInnes in the stands, Shankland in trouble

McInnes, serving the second game of a two-match touchline ban for comments made last season while at Hearts, watched from high in the stand. What he saw early on would have turned his stomach.

Motherwell started sharper, brighter, braver on the ball. Then came the sight no Rangers supporter wanted: Lawrence Shankland pulling up after barely nine minutes, limping off with what McInnes later described as a “significant” hamstring problem that may be a recurrence of last season’s issue.

The captain’s head dropped as he trudged off. The stadium sagged with him.

On came Naderi. Within minutes, the mood flipped.

Paulsen’s moment of madness

Motherwell had been composed at the back, but a couple of loose touches from their centre-backs changed everything. A scruffy passage of play saw the ball rolled back to Alex Paulsen. Routine clearance? It should have been.

Instead, the goalkeeper tried to be cute, to take on the onrushing Naderi at the edge of his box. He lost.

Naderi nicked the ball cleanly, strode into space and rolled it into an empty net on 12 minutes. He will rarely score an easier goal. He may not score many more important ones this season.

Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson refused to dwell on the error afterwards, insisting “the mistake isn’t even a point for me today”, but the damage was done. Rangers had their lead, and with it, control.

Pandur stands tall as Motherwell threaten

The goal jolted Rangers into rhythm, yet Motherwell still carved out chances that could have rewritten the afternoon.

Ivor Pandur produced two big saves before the half-hour. First he stood firm to deny Regan Charles-Cook, then he got down sharply to his right to push away Alex Lowry’s low strike at the end of a slick counter-attack.

The warning signs were there for Rangers. Motherwell were not going quietly.

Then came the spell that should have buried the game.

Minsu Kim, who would find himself at the heart of the story all afternoon, headed straight at Pandur with his first big opportunity. Moments later, Djeidi Gassama was clattered into by Tom Sparrow as he attacked Dan Neil’s cross. The referee pointed straight to the spot.

With Shankland already off, responsibility fell to Minsu. He dragged the penalty wide. No save, no heroics. Just a poor miss from 12 yards that sucked the air out of the away end and let Rangers off the hook.

Rangers waste chances to kill it

The pattern hardened after the break. Rangers on the front foot, Motherwell hanging in, the scoreline stubbornly refusing to move.

Minsu almost redeemed himself early in the second half, bursting through and drawing a strong save from Paulsen, the ball cannoning off the post from the rebound. On another day, it spins in. Here, it spun away and with it went Motherwell’s best hope.

McInnes turned to his bench again. Minsu and Gassama were withdrawn, with Daisuke Yokota introduced and Kevin Kelsy sent on for his Rangers debut.

The home side then carved out enough chances to make the closing stages comfortable, but their finishing never matched their approach play.

Nico Raskin saw one effort hacked off the line. Yokota, arriving at the back post with the goal gaping, sliced horribly wide. Kelsy, eager to crown his first appearance with a goal, leaned back and lashed over from a promising position.

McInnes called it “more than the scoreline suggested” and he was right. Rangers controlled territory, tempo and chances. The only thing missing was the ruthlessness to reflect that dominance on the scoreboard.

Mixed emotions for both managers

McInnes left Ibrox pleased with the performance, but clearly worried about Shankland.

“It looks like a significant hamstring injury,” he admitted. “He’s a bit down about things and he might be out for a while.” The manager pointed to the “quality to lean on” in attack, praising Kelsy’s debut and Naderi’s impact, but the loss of his captain lingers like a cloud over the win.

Johansson, meanwhile, accepted that Rangers deserved the points.

“They were the better team, they deserved the three points today,” he said. Yet he also saw reasons to believe his side can climb. On what he called a “bad day”, Motherwell still created chances that could have swung the contest.

Rangers, though, now sit second, having restricted what McInnes described as “a very good Motherwell team” to fleeting moments and half-chances, penalty aside. The frustration for the home manager was simple: this should have been decided long before the final whistle.

Instead, it was Naderi’s opportunism, born from a single rush of blood by Paulsen, that separated the sides. If Shankland’s injury does prove as serious as feared, that one swing of momentum may have to be the first of many from Rangers’ supporting cast.