Rangers shoot themselves in the foot to lose 2-1 at Kilmarnock

Rangers returned to league play in the Scottish Premiership with a dud, falling 2-1 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park with both goals being largely self-inflicted.

Rangers returned from the January break with some new faces, but the issues that plagued the side before continued and they struggled to have the quality in the attacking third and had huge defensive break-downs gift goals to the opposition.

Jermaine Defoe, in his Scottish Premiership debut, got his first goal just 12 minutes in, after several ricochets off of the Kilmarnock keeper eventually found him where he simply tipped it into the net. It appeared as though things were going to go swimmingly for Rangers, they largely dominated possession (official tally shows Rangers with 57%) and an early goal for their new arrival.

Then, in the 22nd minute, the first crack appeared. Gareth McAuley held possession in the back third in a routine way, but danced with the ball too long and lost it, allowing for a breakaway and easy goal. The gaffe was on par with any of the most atrocious mistakes you will see a central defender make, the fact that it came from the veteran McAuley makes it even more painful.

Defensive mistake aside, the match carried on largely in good spirits for Rangers. Once again, they largely held possession and had several good opportunities including a header from Alfredo Morelos that struck woodwork and a header from Joe Worral that forced a diving save. But in the 66th minute, future Ranger Jordan Jones took another Rangers mistake and capitalized.

On a breakaway, once again against McAuley, Jones got too much space and let fire from outside the box and put it into the lower corner. Allan McGregor did get a hand too it but it was not enough to stop the shot.

The match comes as a huge disappointment for Rangers and spoils any hope of an immediate turnaround. The issues of scoring on the road continue and now they have dropped precious points from rival Celtic. A very poor start.