An excellent
Motherwell performance earned only a point against Rangers under the Fir Park
lights.
The loss of an
early goal did nothing to blunt Motherwell’s sparkling play and the only disappointment
at the break was that they had not equalised.
Rangers showed more resistance in the second half and it seemed that
they were on the way to a win when Lukas Fadinger saw red with only fifteen
minutes remaining.
The ten men,
with some refreshment from the bench, pushed on regardless of the visitors’
attempts to waste time. The home crowd
shook Fir Park with the roar when Stephen Welsh got on the end of Eythor
Bjorgolfsson’s knock down to earn the point that was the least Motherwell
deserved.
Jens Bethel
Askou had made three changes from the victorious side that started in
Livingston as Welsh, Emmanuel Longelo and Elliot Watt lined up.
There might
have been a ‘Well opener after five minutes when Longelo collected O’Donnell’s
cross. The powerful shot was parried by Jack
Butland to afford a second hit but it flew wide. Rangers scored in the next minute when Nico Raskin
danced through the centre of the home defence to slide the ball beyond Callum
Ward.
Motherwell
brushed off the goal and stuck to their passing game. They harried and recovered the ball when
needed and spent most of the half in the Rangers last third. But no reward
came.
There was a
let off in a rare Rangers’ attack when Chermiti failed to make the best of a
Welsh mistake inside his area.
Oscar
Priestman replaced Watt at the break but the home side were less dominant. Eli Just played a neat one-two to force
Butland to save as the game became more physical. Rangers collected a yellow for wasting time before
they got the boost as Fadinger’s high tackle on Moore reduced Motherwell to
ten.
Persistence
paid off in the end as Welsh scored with 88 on the clock. It was an excellent showing from Askou’s men
and the received a standing ovation at the end.
Motherwell 1
Rangers 1
Attendance 11,304
Team: Ward, O’Donnell
(Sparrow 68), McGinn, Longelo (Charles-Cook 86), Welsh, Watt (Priestman 45), Said
(Bjorgolfsson 68), Fadinger, Just (Nicholson 86), Slattery, Maswanhise
Wednesday 11
February 2026
