World news – GB – Itten saves point for Leader Rangers

Cedric Itten saved a tie for the Scottish Premier League Rangers against determined Motherwell to restore their 21-point lead over Celtic

The substitute headed in Borna Barisic’s cross and scored for the fourth time this season against Well

Itten’s Leveler prevented Motherwell from becoming the first team to beat the Rangers in the league this season, with the hosts slipping from the bottom

Cole also temporarily kept his team on top by clearing Connor Goldson’s header off the line

Graham Alexander has drawn two of two draws since joining Motherwell This is only the third team to score points from Rangers this season and are ahead of the Hamilton Academical in terms of goal difference.The Steelmen also have games in hand over the sides around them

Rangers’ sequence of 15 consecutive league wins comes to an end and defending champions Celtic could cut their deficit to 18 points during a visit to Livingston on Wednesday

It was a calm opening on both sides, and Motherwell scored at the end of a concerted period of possession when Watt scored a low hit for Cole to knock home in the six-yard box Cole had previously been involved in the move and was rewarded for continuing his run

Rangers had hardly worked out a chance until Barisic’s excellent cross from Alfredo Morelos’ sideline just missed the goal

That chance may have shown visitors the best way to attack, but instead they insisted on low crosses that tended to be wiped off the well backline

Ianis Hagi shot a volley after the break and another from teammate Steven Davis, who made it 300 The Rangers’ time was blocked

Ryan Kent burst in from left to test Well goalkeeper Liam Kelly and the pattern for the second half was quickly established

Cole then prevented a goal by clearing Goldson’s header on a corner, and Goldson’s next attempt, a shot, was blocked by Kelly

But Rangers finally found the right formula when Barisic’s cross from the depths was nodded off from the left by Hagi’s successor Itten. Alexander said after the game that he felt the Swiss striker was offside

The crowd pushed on when the legs on either side were tired and Jermain Defoe, who came on for Morelos, saved Kelly deep in stoppage time

Motherwell had last weekend in the draw against St Mirren taken the lead and created opportunities, and it will be a frustration for Alexander that they were withheld again

The Rangers have had a strong defensive record this season, but have lost an average of more goals over the course of the season

The Cole goal was reminiscent of Callum Lang’s start for Motherwell when the Steelmen lost 3-1 at Ibrox – a low ball from a wide area – and it’s unlikely to go unnoticed by future opponents

In the future, the complicated pass that triggered the Rangers’ goals in their defeat of Aberdeen last week was largely undone by Alexander’s tactics. Nevertheless, they persevered and achieved the goal their efforts deserved

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander: “But for a possible offside goal we win the game. At the time I couldn’t see it but I saw a still on the camera and he’s offside, it looks like this to me.” / p>

“I’m really proud of the team, the players, the club because there was a lot of help behind the scenes to prepare for this game I thought the team was fantastic It’s another point on our grand total. The two of them Games we had are unbeaten “

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard told Sky Sports: “I don’t think we have any complaints about the result. It took us 45 minutes to get to the game I’m disappointed with our performance in the first half

“We got into them at half time and had to make a replacement to send a message as well I thought we were really good in the second half Cedric came in and scored a good goal The guys showed a lot of faith and character “

Motherwell is in Aberdeen on Saturday (15:00 GMT) when Rangers are at home in Ross County (15:00)

Attempt saved The right-footed shot by Jermain Defoe (Rangers) from the center of the penalty area is saved in the middle of the goal. Prepared by James Tavernier with a cross

Attempt missed James Tavernier (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is missed on the left. Assisted by Joe Aribo following a corner

Attempt missed Allan Campbell (Motherwell) right footed shot from outside the box but right after a corner

Attempt blocked James Tavernier (Rangers) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked

Amy Irons of BBC Scotland’s The Nine competes against Sportsound presenter Richard Gordon in this week’s sports scene predictions

Rangers, Motherwell versus Rangers