A superb Motherwell performance earned a 3-2 win at
Ibrox. Emmanuel Longelo (2) and Lukas
Fadinger got the goals.
The happy travelling fans took advantage of the hold-back
after the final whistle to run through the ‘Well songbook as they celebrated
this famous victory. They had been
treated to a wonderful exhibition by their claret and amber heroes in the first
half and a display of determined defending in the second.
Callum Slattey returned to the staring eleven as Ibrahim Said
was benched. Motherwell kicked off and
conceded a free kick 19 yards our after a minute. Aasgaard’s kick flew high – as did a further
two attempts later in the half. Those
were the only attempts on Callum Ward’s goal before the break.
Motherwell took charge and proceeded to pass their way from
back to front as they bypassed the static home midfield. The opener came after 16 minutes. Fadinger exchanged passes with Stephen
O’Donnell on the left and the Austrian finished low beyond Jack Butland.
The visitors’ domination was underlined ten minutes later
when Tom Sparrow’s ball across the six yard box was met by Longelo’s powerful
slammer into the roof of the net. It was
a deserved two goal lead and it could have increased had Motherwell made better
of later opportunities.
Three Rangers substitutions changed the game after the
interval. Mikey Moore injected some
craft into their attack and the pendulum swung ominously in their favour.
Youssef Chermitin aided by a slip from Paul McGinn, gave the
home crowd a boost with his goal early in the second half and the atmosphere
inside the stadium rose a notch.
Motherwell were pinned back for long spells but there were
enough forays to the other end to offer some hope. The odds fell decisively in the home side’s
favour when the striker headed into the net with twenty minutes remaining.
Rangers spurned a couple of glaring chances and paid the
price as normal time ended. Stephen
O’Donnell found Longelo and the ball was in the net to unleash wild
celebrations in the Sandy Jardine corner.
Almost ten minutes of added time passed and the points were on the way
to Fir Park.
Rangers 2 Motherwell 3
Attendance 50,970
Team: Ward,
O’Donnell, McGinn, Longelo, Sparrow (Gordon 90), Welsh (McGhee55), Fadinger,
Watt, Slattery (Hendry 90), Just (Said 70), Maswanhise (Charles-Cook 70)
Sunday 26
April 2026
