Rangers Rise to Second as Naderi Strikes After Shankland Injury

Ryan Naderi pounced on a calamitous Motherwell error to fire Rangers up to second in the Scottish Premiership, on a night when Derek McInnes’ joy was tempered by a worrying injury to captain Lawrence Shankland.

McInnes in the stands, Shankland stricken

McInnes, serving the second game of a two-match touchline ban for comments made last season while at Hearts, could only watch from the Ibrox directors’ box as his evening took an early, ominous turn.

Motherwell started with more purpose, sharper into tackles and quicker in transition. Then, after barely 10 minutes, Shankland pulled up off the ball. One look at his face told its own story. He limped off, replaced by Ryan Naderi, and Rangers’ focal point – the man who has thrived under McInnes’ more attacking approach – was gone.

“It looks like a significant hamstring injury,” McInnes would later admit, fearing a recurrence of the issue that plagued Shankland at Hearts last season. The striker, he said, “might be out for a while.”

Any gloom, though, didn’t last long.

Naderi punishes Paulsen’s moment of madness

Within minutes of coming on, Naderi transformed the mood.

A routine passage of play at the back for Motherwell turned chaotic. A couple of loose touches from the centre-backs left Alex Paulsen stretching to tidy things up. Instead, the goalkeeper chose to take on the onrushing Naderi on the edge of his area.

It was a disastrous decision.

Naderi nicked the ball cleanly, left Paulsen stranded and simply rolled his finish into the empty net. Twelve minutes played. One touch of chaos, one ruthless response, and Rangers were in front.

He will rarely score an easier goal. Few will feel sicker about conceding one.

Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson refused to hang his goalkeeper out to dry, insisting Paulsen’s mistake “isn’t even a point” for him given the keeper’s consistency. But the damage was done, and the game’s only goal was on the board.

Pandur stands tall as Motherwell threaten

The early breakthrough didn’t turn this into a procession. Motherwell, even on what Johansson called a “bad day”, carved out enough chances to make Ibrox nervous.

Ivor Pandur, in the Rangers goal, had to be sharp. First, he reacted well to beat away a Regan Charles-Cook effort on 16 minutes. Then he got down brilliantly to his right to deny Alex Lowry after a slick Motherwell counter on 28 minutes.

At the other end, Rangers were handed a golden chance to stretch their lead just after the half-hour.

Djeidi Gassama drove into the box to meet a Dan Neil cross and was clattered into by Tom Sparrow. The contact was clumsy, the penalty decision straightforward.

With Shankland off, Minsu Kim took responsibility. He dragged his spot-kick wide of the post. Ibrox groaned. Motherwell breathed again.

It was the first of three big moments for the South Korean forward. None of them would fall his way.

Missed chances keep Rangers honest

Minsu had already headed straight at Pandur with a clear opening before his penalty miss. After the break, he found himself in the thick of it again.

On 54 minutes, Paulsen redeemed himself with a strong save to deny Minsu, the rebound cannoning off the post as Rangers survived by inches. It summed up Motherwell’s night: close, but not clinical.

Johansson later pointed to those moments as evidence of his side’s potential. Even below par, they “created a couple of chances which could’ve made a big difference,” he argued, while acknowledging Rangers “were the better team” and fully deserved the points.

McInnes, meanwhile, watched his side create enough opportunities to kill the contest, only to leave the door ajar.

Nico Raskin saw a goal-bound effort hooked off the line on 66 minutes. Five minutes later, substitute Daisuke Yokota sliced horribly wide with the goal gaping, a miss that drew gasps around Ibrox.

Kevin Kelsy, making his Rangers debut, then had his own moment in front of the Copland Road end. Set up in a promising position on 74 minutes, he leant back and lashed his shot over, squandering the chance to mark his first appearance with a goal that would have settled everything.

McInnes still found positives. “Kelsy was good on his debut and Naderi got his goal; we’ve got quality to lean on,” he said, though he didn’t hide his irritation. “It was a very strong performance; it was more than the scoreline suggested… I’m just annoyed and a bit frustrated that we didn’t add to our lead.”

Rangers climb, but at a cost

By the final whistle, Rangers had what they needed: three points, a clean sheet, and a move up to second place. They had also shown a resilience that pleased their manager, restricting what Johansson called “a very good Motherwell team” to flashes rather than sustained pressure.

Yet the defining image of the night might not be Naderi rolling the ball into an empty net. It might be Shankland, head down, trudging off after nine minutes.

McInnes has depth in attack. Naderi took his chance. Kelsy showed glimpses. Yokota and Gassama added energy. The squad, as the manager said, will now “need to step up.”

But as the fixtures pile up and the season’s demands grow sharper, Rangers’ climb to second poses a simple question: how far can they go if their main man is missing for the long haul?