Rangers made themselves at home at Hampden, albeit not in entirely convincing fashion, winning their first game at their temporary residence against Motherwell.
It was something of an odd occasion at the national stadium as the Rangers support got used to their new surroundings on Premiership duty, but despite making things hard for themselves, they emerged as deserved victors in the end despite the game falling a bit flat after the interval.
An early goal from Cyriel Dessers seemed to have set Rangers on their way after coming charging out of the blocks, but a disastrous debut own goal from Robin Propper had The Steelmen back on terms quickly, and had the small sliver of the bowl occupied by their fans dreaming of a second consecutive away victory in the league against Rangers after waiting 27 years for the last one.
Alas, a moment of real quality from Rangers new boy Vaclav Cerny soon had Rangers back in front, and that is the way it stayed despite one or two late scares for the ‘hosts’ after a flat second half from their point of view.
Here are the talking points from Hampden…
Strange old atmosphere at the national stadium
You can put up as much blue signage as you like, and blast Simply the Best over the Tannoy as the teams emerge from the tunnel, but despite the best efforts of the DJ and the Rangers support, this just wasn’t the same as a home game for the Ibrox side.
Fittingly for the national stadium, it was perhaps their take on Scotland staple Caledonia that rang out loudest around the old bowl, and the team did their part by starting the match on the front foot.
There may even be an argument that there will be less pressure on the Rangers players without the demanding home support right on top of them as they are at Ibrox, but that cuts both ways, and it was certainly a less intimidating arena for the opposition to venture into as well.
It was as flat as a pancake in the second half as the atmosphere mirrored the performance of the Rangers team, and the players and supporters will surely be desperate to get back to Ibrox sooner rather than later.
Dessers on the mark again
The striker continued his promising start to the season by following up his goal against Kyiv here by showing good reactions to prod Rangers into the lead.
Mohamed Diomande had rather made a hash of his header after being picked out at the back post by a deep Ridvan Yilmaz cross, but as the Motherwell defence stood static, Dessers was on the move to get to the loose ball first and force it past Oxborough.
Yes, with this being Dessers he managed to provoke some head in hands moments with a couple of wayward finishes too, but he won’t care about that too much as long as he also keeps finding the net on a consistent basis.
Propper nervy debut as defender plays part in shaky rearguard
It was an inauspicious start for the Dutchman on his Rangers bow, getting his name on the scoresheet, but at the wrong end.
Motherwell had also passed up a glorious opportunity to take the lead early on when Propper lost out in the air to ‘Well striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and the ball was helped over the top for Lennon Miller to run in on goal, but the youngster could only find the side netting with an age to pick his spot.
Then, after Rangers had hit the front and the atmosphere at Hampden was at last threatening to catch fire, he marked his debut in the worst possible fashion.
In fairness to him, he wasn’t helped by some woeful defending from the rest of his side. Motherwell were allowed far too much space to work the ball into midfield and then wide to Steve Seddon, whose cross nicked off the head of John Souttar before finding Propper’s outstretched right foot and the bottom corner of Jack Butland’s net.
In fairness to Propper, he steadied himself after that despite picking up a yellow card for a lunge on Miller, and Rangers manager Clement will hope he can be a steadying influence on Souttar in time.
The Scotland man looks short on confidence, and Motherwell almost carved out an equaliser through Zach Robinson after he had left a high ball. Butland came to the rescue with a fine diving save to his left.
The backline remains a work in progress.
Cerny looks an exciting addition
The winger followed up his impressive and potentially crucial assist off the bench against Dynamo Kyiv with an even more impressive contribution on his first start, capping of a lively display with a beautiful finish to move Rangers back in front.
Cerny had been causing Motherwell left back Seddon an almighty headache with his positioning and clever runs inside, and he caught the full back napping to take a pass from James Tavernier in his stride and advance towards the angle of the box.
You could see what he was going to do from a mile off as he lined up for the curler into the opposite corner, but such was the brilliance of his execution, there was nothing that the giant Motherwell keeper Aston Oxborough could do but forlornly grasp for the ball as it flew past him and into the net.
The on-loan Wolfsburg man looks to be an exciting addition in an area where Rangers have lacked a bit of quality recently, and though he ran out of puff 10 minutes after the restart, there should be more to come when he is up to full fitness.
Rangers target Miller shows quality, but Motherwell injury curse continues
Despite his early miss, Miller was able to show moments of quality here that might well have had the watching Rangers supporters hoping that their club follow through with their interest in the prodigiously talented 17-year-old.
He has been playing in a more advanced midfield role so far this season due to the injury crisis round Fir Park way, and he showed composure to link the play for Motherwell and get them up the pitch, as well as showing a willingness to run in behind on occasion.
He wasn’t on the ball as much as he would like, of course, with the visitors defending deep for the most part, but when he did have it, he used it well, and showed glimpses of why bigger clubs like Rangers are keeping tabs on him.
That was the positive for Motherwell, but over and above the defeat, the massive negative was the loss of striker Stamatelopoulos, who limped off clutching his groin with an injury just before half time on his first start for the club.
Manager Stuart Kettlewell may rue throwing him into the lone striker role on the big Hampden pitch, and he joins a lengthy injury list in Lanarkshire.
