Rangers off to a winning start at Hampden but cause for concern on mixed day for new signings

First-half goals from Cyriel Dessers and the impressive Vaclav Cerny either side of a Robin Propper own goal looked to have them well placed in this maiden appearance at their makeshift new home while building work at Ibrox rumbles on.

Rather than pressing on to make sure of the win by plundering additional goals, however, Rangers, inexplicably, took their foot off the gas, seemingly happy to coast their way to a first win of the campaign. A better-equipped side than Motherwell would likely have punished such lethargy and even then this patched-up unit almost claimed a point, Jack Butland getting his team out of a hole with a precious late save.

Rangers will be back here again on Tuesday night when Dynamo Kyiv will provide the opposition in the return leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie. A 1-1 draw salvaged in neutral Poland last week leaves Rangers as favourites to progress but only if they perform with greater vibrancy than they showed for the final 45 minutes of this one.

From a logistical point of view, decanting from Ibrox to the national stadium turned out to be just a minor inconvenience rather than anything more troubling for Rangers and their supporters to have to deal with. The Union Bears assembled behind the goal at the traditional “Rangers end” of the stadium, with the remainder of their support occupying the rest of the stadium save for the few hundred Motherwell fans afforded a thin sliver of seats. With concerns over the pitch proving unfounded, there wasn’t a huge amount for the displaced Rangers followers to grumble about.

Off the pitch at least. On it, what had looked like a relatively straightforward victory – save from when Motherwell drew level for six first-half minutes – became rather more fraught after the interval as Rangers’ intensity dropped off, imbuing Stuart Kettlewell’s side with a jolt of confidence that a result might not be beyond them. It meant a match that ought to have been put to bed in the first half remained in doubt until the final whistle as the Hampden atmosphere turned as flat as their team’s performance.

Dessers at least did his bit in his ongoing bid to win over those in the Rangers support who remain unconvinced that he possesses the predatory instincts required to be the team’s starting No. 9. Fresh from bagging the vital equaliser in midweek to elevate Rangers’ Champions League prospects, the Nigerian cap again proved his worth with the opening goal after 13 minutes, shovelling in a shot from close range after Mohamed Diomande had nodded Ridvan Yilmaz’s cross into his path.

The stand-out performer for Rangers, however, was Cerny who shone on the right-hand flank on the occasion of his first start for his club. Forever looking to cut onto his left foot, the on-loan Wolfsburg forward scored the goal of the match as he hared along the perimeter of the Motherwell penalty box before zipping a thumping shot into the corner of the net to give his team a 2-1 lead. A lack of match sharpness was behind the decision to remove him from the action after just 56 minutes but by that point he had already made a positive early impression.

Not every Rangers new face enjoyed such a productive afternoon. Propper was handed a debut at the heart of the defence and must have wanted the Hampden turf to open up and swallow him after inadvertently poking Steve Seddon’s cross from the left beyond his own goalkeeper for an unfortunate Motherwell equaliser. The Dutchman thought he had made amends later in the half when he crossed for Scott Wright to finish but the ball had already crossed the goal line.

Motherwell took heart, briefly, from their equaliser and again as the second half wore on as Rangers toiled. Already missing seven players due to injury, the visitors’ prospects took another dunt when new striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos limped off.

To their credit they didn’t throw in the towel and, after Dujon Sterling had been wayward with a header at the other end, Motherwell grew in confidence, with Zach Robinson denied an equaliser only by that terrific Butland save. Rangers held on but improvements are still needed.