The Scottish Premiership title race continues to heat up and last night, we got another dose of excitement up and down the top flight. Rangers, the current leaders, were at the forefront of it as they played host to Livingston in what proved to be a fascinating game at Ibrox.
The two clubs were unable to best one another for long spells until a late Scott Arfield goal ensured that Rangers were the ones who would be leaving with all three points. Today, we’re going to take a look at a few things we learned from watching the encounter.
One for the future
Alex Lowry, 18, scored from the bench for Rangers on his debut against Stirling Albion – and last night, he was given his first start. Any time the hosts tried to put Livingston under any kind of sustained pressure, it all went through Lowry. He was able to help his side dictate the pace and play and while he ultimately wasn’t the sole reason for their triumph, he still performed exceptionally well for someone with such little experience.
Livingston’s resilience
Livingston were always going to be a tough nut to crack for Rangers and that’s exactly how things turned out on the night. They stuck it out for 75 minutes and even after going 1-0 down, they were able to shift their game plan to ensure they didn’t capitulate. They didn’t come away with anything which is a shame given their performance but based on outings like this, they aren’t likely to struggle in the relegation battle.
Rangers dig deep
Rangers needed to show the heart of champions and they did just that in this fixture. The manager called it a “big” win and that can’t be overstated, even if some want to belittle the opposition (which would be foolish in itself). Giovanni van Bronckhorst always knew that he was going to be facing a tough test when coming into the club but for now, they’re four points clear of Celtic and they look good value for their lead.
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