Rangers Break Through in Closing Moments against St Mirren
By Joseph Sinke
Rangers went to St. Mirren looking to bounce back after a pair of tough games. First they had tied with Kilmarnock and then lost in the Betfred Cup Semi-Finals against Aberdeen to have their first true failure of the season by failing to even make the finals of the Scottish Cup.
Through much of the game against St. Mirren it appeared to be more of the same, only this time there was little excuse to be had. At the very least, Aberdeen is a solid club who has finished second in the League the last two seasons, and Kilmarnock have had an impressive start to the season by being towards the top of the table.
St Mirren however, has generally only managed to stay ahead of the laughably bad Dundee. And as the second half dragged on and the score remained 0-0 tensions and worries continued to rise with Rangers and their supporters.
Rangers were continuing to have the same issues that have plagued them recently. Bouts of defensive issues allowing chances that they shouldn’t be allowing, and poor play in the attacking third combined with some bad luck keeping them from finding the back of the net.
In the second half things started to turn in Rangers favor, improving attacking play and tightening up the defense, but Rangers still couldn’t find the breakthrough as time got closer to the end of the match. Then in the 80th minute, Daniel Candeias received a ball from James Tavernier well outside the box and let fly to the goal. It still isn’t abundantly clear whether Candeias’ ball was intended as a shot or a cross, but either way it ended up as a perfect and brilliant goal.
The ball stayed just out of reach of the keeper and just barely snuck under the cross-bar to break the stalemate. Then, in the 93rd minute, Alfredo Morelos put the finishing touches on the match by taking the ball at an angle and rocketing a shot into the net to make it 2-0.
It still stands as a bit of a questionable match for Rangers, even on the road, St Mirren is a weak side and Rangers needed a brilliant, perhaps lucky, goal to break the stalemate. Always good to get a win but Rangers will have to build to get back into form.