OPINION
Rangers finally got their first away league win of the season with their 4-1 victory over Hamilton on Sunday – but not many fans would have expected such a convincing result, or even the win, heading into the final 10 minutes of the clash.
Ryan Kent opened the scoring in the first half with a chip to give Steven Gerrard’s men the lead at half time, but a failure to find another saw Steven Boyd’s cracking effort seem to seal a point for the home side 10 minutes from time.
However, a mad 10 minutes, from the 84th to 94th, saw the Gers net three times, twice from the penalty spot, to send the light Blues back to Ibrox with all three points.
So what can be taken away from the win?
This is Futbol has picked out three things learned from the clash:
McGregor will be fuming
Allan McGregor has been one of the stand out performers for the Gers this season and his fine form continued with his outing against Hamilton – even if he did not manage to keep a clean sheet.
A series of stops kept his side leading against the home side before eventually being beaten by a stunning effort from Steven Boyd beat him, and he will be fuming with the rest of his side for the way that they allowed Hamilton to break through so often to have the chance to score – tearing into his defence at numerous times throughout the game.
It was a really strange display from what is a usually resolute Gers side, and McGregor has every right to be disappointed not to have kept the home side at bay, so despite the win, there might be some strong words coming his teammates’ way in the dressing room.
Arfield a massive miss
Having picked up a minor injury while on international duty, Steven Gerrard chose not to risk Scott Arfield in Sunday’s clash – and what a miss he was in the midfield.
There was a creative spark lacking that the likes of Jordan Rossiter, Ovie Ejaria and Lassana Coulibaly could not provide and as a result it was a Rangers performance which would have left the fans nodding off.
Arfield has been so impressive this season and while Gerrard was right not to risk him against Hamilton, he must be making a return to the team as soon as he is available.
Katic fails in usurping Worrall
One of the big surprises in the starting XI was that Nikola Katic, who has been out of action with injury of late, took the place of Joe Worrall despite the Nottingham Forest loanee’s fine form in his teammate’s absence.
However, it does not look like the 6’4″ (source: Transfermarkt) 22-year-old will be keeping his place for too long, with a poor performance which must see the change reversed at the first possible opportunity.
The centre back was lazy in possession, failing to produce many accurate passes at all, while his defensive display was nothing to write back to Ibrox about as his performance constantly put his side at risk.
While we might not know how the pair are getting on in training, if it comes down to what happens on matchday, then Worrall is miles ahead of Katic, and the axe must not only be getting sharpened but it should have been swung on the full time whistle.