Rangers Secure Win Against Motherwell with Naderi's Goal

Ryan Naderi needed only one mistake to tilt Ibrox. One rash touch, one rush of blood from Alex Paulsen, and Rangers had the single goal that dragged them up to second in the Scottish Premiership.

Derek McInnes watched it all from the stand, serving the second match of a two-game touchline ban for comments made last season while at Hearts. He could only sit, arms folded, as his afternoon threatened to unravel almost before it began.

Shankland blow, Naderi lift

Motherwell started with purpose, pinning Rangers back and looking sharp in transition. Then came the jolt. Lawrence Shankland, the captain and focal point, pulled up off the ball inside nine minutes, immediately signalling trouble.

It looked bad. It sounded worse when McInnes later admitted it “looks like a significant hamstring injury” and possibly a recurrence of the issue that dogged Shankland at Hearts. For a side built around his goals, it felt like a gut punch.

McInnes turned to Ryan Naderi. Within minutes, the mood shifted.

A routine passage of play turned chaotic for Motherwell’s back line. A couple of loose touches from the centre-backs forced the ball back to Paulsen. The goalkeeper tried to be cute, to dribble his way out as Naderi charged him down. He never got the chance.

Naderi nicked the ball cleanly on the edge of the box, strolled past the stranded keeper and rolled it into an empty net. Simple finish, ruthless punishment. He will rarely score an easier goal, but it arrived at a moment when Rangers badly needed calm.

From the stand, McInnes’ frustration at losing Shankland had a new edge: vindication in the depth of his squad.

Pandur stands firm as Motherwell threaten

The goal did not kill Motherwell. If anything, it stirred them.

Regan Charles-Cook forced Ivor Pandur into action first, the Rangers goalkeeper beating away a firm effort to his left. Not long after, an excellent counter from the visitors ended with Alex Lowry driving low towards the corner, only for Pandur to get down sharply and claw it away. Two big saves, both at 1-0, both crucial.

Rangers still carried threat, but the game’s pivotal spell came just after the half-hour and fell at the other end.

Djeidi Gassama darted into the box to meet a Dan Neil cross and was clattered by Tom Sparrow. It was clumsy, it was late, and the referee pointed to the spot. With Shankland already off, the responsibility shifted to Minsu Kim.

He dragged it wide. Paulsen went the wrong way; the ball went past the post. A huge chance gone, and a visible release of tension from the Motherwell defence.

Minsu’s afternoon never quite recovered. Before the break he headed straight at Pandur from a good position, another opportunity wasted.

Missed chances and a nervy finish

The second half opened with Rangers hunting the cushion their play probably deserved. Motherwell, though, still had Paulsen, and he began to atone.

When Minsu burst through again, Paulsen stood tall and blocked the shot. The rebound cannoned off the post, Rangers somehow surviving a sequence that should have levelled the match. It summed up Motherwell’s day: the build-up sharp, the finish blunt.

McInnes turned to his bench. Minsu and Gassama were withdrawn, with Daisuke Yokota introduced and Kevin Kelsy handed his Rangers debut. The fresh legs almost delivered the killer blow.

Nico Raskin thought he had it when he drove a shot goalwards, only to see it hacked off the line. Yokota then sliced wide with the goal gaping, a glaring miss that left groans echoing around Ibrox.

Kelsy, eager to mark his first appearance with a statement, found space in a promising position but leaned back and lashed his effort over. The chance to add gloss, gone.

McInnes was left “annoyed and a bit frustrated” that his side failed to turn dominance into a more convincing scoreline. The performance, though, pleased him. Rangers controlled long stretches, restricted what he called “a very good Motherwell team”, and showed signs of attacking depth even without their captain.

Motherwell see both the damage and the promise

On the opposite bench, Alfred Johansson cut a realistic figure. He did not hide from the result.

“Congratulations to Rangers; they were the better team, they deserved the three points today,” he said. Motherwell, by his own admission, “didn’t play to our best” and allowed Rangers to dictate the type of game McInnes wanted.

Yet Johansson refused to hang Paulsen out to dry for the decisive mistake. He called his goalkeeper “a great goalkeeper” and insisted the error “isn’t even a point” in his post-match assessment, pointing instead to the chances his side carved out even on a bad day.

Motherwell created enough to make Rangers sweat. They saw a penalty fly wide, a one-on-one saved, efforts repelled by Pandur and the woodwork. Johansson will replay those moments to his players and underline the same message: the potential is there, even if the points are not.

Rangers, for now, climb to second and bank a win built on resilience, depth and a single, ruthless press from Naderi. The cost might be high if Shankland’s hamstring keeps him out “for a while”, as McInnes fears.

The question now is simple: with their captain sidelined, can this squad’s “quality to lean on” turn a gritty one-goal win into a sustained charge near the top of the Premiership?