I watched Rangers keep heat on Hearts and Celtic in nine-goal classic - here are 3 areas they must improve to win title

Danny Rohl’s side began the day in third place after wins for both of their title rivals Hearts and Celtic 24 hours earlier. And the whole outlook was desperate for the Light Blues after half an hour at the Falkirk Stadium when Ben Broggio and Finn Yeats fired the Bairns into a two-goal lead.

However, Tochi Chukwuani pulled one back before half-time and a blistering second half performance saw Youssef Chermiti and substitute Bojan Miovski notch doubles in addition to Nico Raskin’s fierce strike after Calvin Miller had briefly reduced the arrears from the penalty spot.

Lewis Anderson covered proceedings for The Scotsman and takes a closer look at three key areas that Rangers must improve in order to get their hands on the title:

Defensive issues persist

Thirty minutes into this contest, few would have predicted the final outcome. For the vast majority of the first half, Rangers were rag-dolled defensively, particularly down both flanks. Miller terrorised James Tavernier on one side and Aston Villa loanee Broggio had the beating of Jayden Meghoma down the other channel.

Young striker Barney Stewart was also running rings around Rangers centre-half pairing of Emmanuel Fernandez and Nasser Djiga. It was two going on three or four before the visitors eventually got their act together shortly before the interval. Falkirk were in complete control against a ponderous and slack Rangers side, who have been scoring goals for fun of late but struggling to keep the back door shut at the same time.

While finding the net 14 times in their last three outings makes for impressive reading, Rangers have leaked six goals of their own, and despite churning out victories have yet to fully convince they can keep clean sheets on a regular basis.

Yet again, they were unable to produce a dominant full 90-minute performance and look like a team who, going forward are extremely ruthless, but could fall apart defensively at any given moment.

Attacking lapses needs resolved

It will have come as no real surprise to supporters when Rangers turned on the afterburners in a largely one-sided second half. As clinical as Rohl’s side were after the break, their opponents lost all sense of structure and composure which was evident during the first half and in their charge to secure a stunning top-six finish.

This Rangers side are a puzzling group to work out. They were nowhere near it in the first 45 minutes and displayed clear signs of fragility, but the arrival of Bojan Miovski seemed to flick a switch as they went on to prove exactly why they find themselves in the midst of an engrossing title scrap.

For a third successive game, the goals arrived via four different scorers. Rangers were a consistent threat on the front foot after the interval but their profligacy in front of the posts remains an issue. That may sound silly considering they found the net on six occasions here, but for much of the first half they looked devoid of any real creativity and spark.

Djeidi Gassama had a couple of efforts that failed to trouble the keeper, Youssef Chermiti volleyed over from 10 yards after latching onto a free-kick before his blushes were spared by the offside flag, Thelo Aasgaard was unable to guide a back post header on target from another set-piece opportunity and Mikey Moore saw an ambitious drive comfortably saved by Scott Bain.

For all Rangers were working the ball into dangerous areas in the final third, that killer instinct was missing. It wasn’t until the half-time introduction of Miovski that they improved as an attacking force.

Time for wingers to step up

At this stage of the season, winning is all that matters for Rangers as they attempt to clinch what would have been an unlikely Premiership title seven months ago. Performances are very much secondary, but supporters still want to be entertained in the meantime.

More often than not since Rohl was appointed as head coach last October, Mikey Moore has been Rangers go-to playmaker. The Tottenham Hotspur loanee has produced a countless number of dazzling displays in recent months, but more is needed from those around him.

Big things were expected from the likes of Gassama, Oliver Antman and January signing Andreas Skov Olsen this term but none have stepped up to the mark so far as the campaign enters a critical stage.

After a scintillating start to his Ibrox career under previous boss Russel Martin, ex-Sheffield Wednesday winger Gassama has gone off the boil and still looks a shadow of the player he was at the beginning of the season.

Finland international Antman has been hampered by injury setbacks and now appears to be well down the pecking order, while Skov Olsen has yet to convince supporters he is worth splashing out £8m on to sign him permanently in the summer.

With only five matches left to play, it’s now or never for the aforementioned trio to make the type of impact that could be the difference between Rangers ending the season as league champions or conducting yet another a post-mortem into a second successive campaign without silverware.

Given the amount of money that was spent in the summer transfer window and in January by the club’s new American owners, that would be scant reward and would inevitably lead to much fan frustration.

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