ON the day that it emerged Alfredo Morelos had given chase to an intruder he had discovered lurking underneath his car at his home, Rangers ensured they remained hot on the heels of Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership table with this hard-fought win.
Morelos was unable to take is place in Steven Gerrard’s starting line-up despite completing the three match suspension he picked up when he was ordered off against Celtic at Parkhead at the end of last month. The striker was only named on the bench due to a slight calf problem.
The Ibrox club once again missed the energy, physicality, ruthlessness and sheer presence of their talismanic leading scorer up front. But it has been very hard to criticise the contribution made by his stand-in Jermain Defoe in his absence.
The veteran forward’s contribution was once again hugely important for his side. He scored one and set up another in a deserved 2-0 triumph. It was a blow for Rangers when the 37-year-old was stretchered off after pulling up injured on the hour mark.
The former England internationalist had struck four minutes before half-time to finally break the deadlock and take his tally for the 2019/20 campaign to 17.
Scott Arfield nodded down to his team mate inside a packed Ross County penalty area. Defoe controlled the ball on his thigh, turned and whipped a low shot at goal. Nathan Baxter managed to get a hand to his attempt, but the goalkeeper was unable to keep it out of his net.
It was a crucial goal at a vital stage in the match and must have been demoralising for a visiting team who had contained their hosts well without threatening greatly themselves.
Rangers had a point to prove after losing 2-1 to Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday and slipping, albeit with a game in hand against St Johnstone at home to play, five points behind the league leaders. They were, though, once again lacking a vital spark in the final third.
Jon Flanagan, who had been replaced at half-time three days earlier so poor was his showing at right back, found himself out of the squad altogether and Joe Aribo was dropped from the starting line-up. Elsewhere, Ryan Jack wasn’t involved due to injury.
Their places were taken by Matt Polster, Sheyi Ojo and Arfield respectively. But Rangers’ first-half showing wasn’t much of an improvement on their lacklustre display in the capital.
Baxter palmed a Ryan Kent effort past his post, Ojo fired wide from long-range and Arfield also volleyed over the crossbar. But there were too many poor decisions and misplaced passes for Gerrard’s liking or for their fans. County were comfortable.
A roar went around the 47,583-strong inside the ground when Morelos’s name was read out before kick-off and it took just over a minute before fans broke into an “Alfredo” chant.
When the Colombian left the dugout to warm up on the touchline he was applauded warmly. But by that stage in proceedings the natives were getting restless. It took the intervention of Defoe, who had scored the only goal in a nervous win over St Mirren seven days earlier, to calm their nerves.
The forward then teed up Arfield in the 47th minute after being supplied by Ojo. His clever back heel cut the County defence wide open. The midfielder jabbed beyond the exposed Baxter and into the bottom left corner to put Rangers two ahead.
However, Defoe only lasted an hour before falling to the sodden turf in clear discomfort. Aribo came on for him and Ojo moved up front briefly.
But it wasn’t long before Morelos made his first appearance of 2020. He came on for Kent in the 67th minute to the delight of his adoring support. He didn’t look in the slightest bit unsettled following the drama of Tuesday evening. He put in his usual hard shift, used the ball well and got an attempt on target in injury-time.
Jordan Jones, who has been tipped to depart Ibrox before the close of the transfer window tomorrow evening, came on for his Northern Ireland team mate in the 74th minute. The winger helped his team to see out the victory.
This was still not as impressive a performance as Rangers produced against Celtic before the winter shutdown. They continue to miss the pace and width that their injured captain James Tavernier provides on the right flank. Polster was decent enough. But he was hardly tested all evening by the Highlanders.
Still, avoiding more dropped points was all that really mattered to Gerrard following their painful reverse at the hands of Hearts and they succeeded in that objective. The loss of Defoe, who looks set to spend a lengthy spell on the sidelines, was the only negative for them.
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