BY DAVID HERD
Rangers eventually overpowered 10-man Kilmarnock at Ibrox to reduce the gap at the top back to three points and keep their hopes of a 56th league title alive, in a match that lasted 102 minutes and featured several contentious incidents.
In early May 1998, Derek McInnes was part of Walter Smith’s Rangers squad whose last hopes of title glory were finally extinguished by a dismal defeat to Kilmarnock at Ibrox. Now, over a quarter of a century later, he was in the away dugout looking to deal a final killer blow to the fading hopes of the Rangers fans seeing a championship win under Phillipe Clement. With a six point gap to Celtic at the top, this game in hand was simply must-win for Rangers, who travel to Parkhead next week with a squad that has their mental strength doubted by many and too many important players missing with physical injury.
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Recent dropped points had seen plenty of the Rangers support lose faith that the team are capable of doing it when it matters. In May 2005, the famous words of Marvin Andrews told similarly pessimistic fans to “keep believing” when things looked as bleak as now as the league race reached its climax. After so many years of title failure and watching the Other Team lift trophy after trophy, perhaps the battle cry now should be “start believing”. The players had to deliver three points for any seeds of belief to start to grow. This would need to be done without so many players who could be argued as first choice in their position. Connor Goldson’s form has been subject to much debate, and he had been dropped for the last two matches, but fair to say that his presence at the back had been virtually ever-present up till then under several managers. News of his season-ending knee injury meant he joined the likes of Ridvan Yilmaz, Ryan Jack, Abdallah Sima, Oscar Cortes and Danilo in the treatment room rather than the pitch.
But second place means nowhere at Ibrox, and injuries won’t be accepted as an excuse for failure. The eleven selected against Killie should still be more than enough to beat any Kilmarnock side. When that team selection was announced, it was the same starters as the grind at St Mirren last Sunday, with the bench including a welcome return for Yilmaz, who surely has to be the left back at Parkhead next time. Perhaps a few of the team were fortunate to retain the trust of the manager, with many in the crowd suggesting they would have preferred to see the return of Ross McCausland at the expense of Fabio Silva on the wing. Dujon Sterling in the other wide position in a match where a big win was needed against a well-organised defence also seemed to be a decision that raised some concerns. When the match started, would these grumbles be silenced?
Things looked as if they would get off to a dream start when referee Dickinson was called over to the monitor by VAR to look at a handball by a Kilmarnock defender, something that usually only ends one way. The VAR check itself took far too long, and it was time wasted when the referee decided no offence had been committed. Within a few minutes the VAR team were again poring over their screens, when Lundstram fired into the net but the goal was ruled out for offside against Silva in the build-up. Another few minutes were taken up, only for the original decision to be ratified and the scoreline remained goalless. Rangers looked in the mood, but then their momentum was halted in its tracks by some more of the ridiculous defending that has scarred recent matches.
A back post cross was met by Matty Kennedy, and his effort was deflected into his own net by skipper Tavernier. VAR then seemed to come to the rescue, but their next lengthy check found that the captain had played the Killie winger onside and the goal stood. We had played fifteen minutes by now, although VAR checks seemed to take up half of it. The referee must have decided he wanted more of the limelight, he then was the centre of some farcical moments that had the Ibrox crowd baying for his blood. First he obstructed Diomande from getting to the ball, but decided to give a drop ball for Kilmarnock. When he dropped the ball, first Dessers and then Cantwell nipped in to take possession, only for Mr Dickinson to call them back. Monty Python couldn’t have come up with anything more of a joke.
A few minutes later, the official was back at the monitor again. Sterling was denied after getting on the end of a Silva low cross across the face of goal, with the ball being stopped by the arm of defender Joe Wright. The penalty was eventually awarded after the TV pictures were studied, and Killie’s anger was compounded by a red card to their player. This gave the Rangers captain the ideal opportunity to turn the tide as well as get himself back in the good books, but his penalty was poor and turned away by goalkeeper Will Dennis. Derek McInnes then sacrificed the attacking flair of Danny Armstrong to bring on defender Robbie Deas, as his team had 70 minutes to now play with a man less.
In truth, they coped well for the remainder of the half, as Rangers got increasingly desperate. Chances were created, but a combination of too many touches in the box, poor decision making, and brave defending saw the score remain 0-1 as eight minutes of injury time (or VAR time) was signalled. And in the very last of those minutes, Rangers finally found the goal they so badly needed. Sterling on the right fed Lundstram on the edge of the box, and his lofted cross was beautifully finished by Fabio Silva. The Portuguese forward hasn’t been the most popular man recently, possibly why he chose to celebrate in the way he did. The roar at Ibrox was in relief as much as pleasure, and it was the last action of the opening period. Referee Dickinson received a deserved ovation on his way off the pitch, as Philippe Clement marched up the tunnel with plenty on his mind.
He was forced into a change, with the little-seen Ben Davies replacing Balogun for the second half. Little did anyone suspect he would turn out to be the man who would make the breakthrough. After fifteen frustrating minutes where the depleted away team looked relatively comfortable, the English defender scored a rare goal. A Tavernier corner was played to Lundstram on the edge of the box, Dennis was unable to hold his strike, and there was Davies reacting first to knock in the rebound to turn Ibrox into a far happier and noisier place. From then on, there was little doubt as to the winners.
There had been a few good chances, often featuring Cyriel Dessers and his frustrating need to take too many touches rather than shoot at goal, before another Rangers substitute showed him how it should be done. Tom Lawrence had replaced Cantwell in a double change that also saw the introduction of McCausland for Sterling. And in 71 minutes the substitutes combined to give Lawrence a sight of goal from fully twenty yards. His strike was unstoppable as it arrowed into the far corner.
With the game now won, Turkish left back Ridvan Yilmaz was given the last ten minutes replacing the possibly Turkey-bound Barisic. And he could celebrate a fourth goal in injury time. Lawrence was again involved, his shot being stopped by Dennis, but the ball looped up into the air and was met by the head of John Souttar to dispatch it into the net.
The 49,553 crowd had suffered a comical own goal, endured VAR indecision, and saw their captain miss a penalty. But the vast majority had got over their frustrations and left Ibrox still with hopes that the championship is not yet lost. Injuries, loss of poor goals, and failing to take good chances are all still reasons not to believe. But titles have been won from worse positions. Maybe more of us should Start Believing?
One man still with that belief is the manager, who stated at the post match press conference that his team will fight till the last minute of the season, and the good teams never give up. He also spoke about the comments made by his Celtic counterpart yesterday about them looking to “have fun” next weekend. Fair to say, he was less than happy by using the word “disrespectful” about Rodgers. A little bit more spice seems to have been added. Time will tell if any of the injured players will be out on the Parkhead pitch as the season reaches its climax. Leon Balogun’s injury was described as “hopefully a minor muscle problem”. Sadly, we have heard such optimism before. Regardless what eleven are wearing royal blue in the match, we need to hope they have the same belief and desire as the manager. Its time for the Battle Fever!