Mikey Moore of RangersSNS

At a glance

  • Longelo scores twice after Fadinger opener as Motherwell enhance European prospects

  • Rangers miss chance to go ahead of Hearts despite coming from two down to level

  • Ibrox side trail city rivals Celtic

Rangers v Motherwell highlights

26/04/26

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Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland

Motherwell's Emmanuel Longelo scored a stunning 90th-minute winner to dent Rangers' Scottish Premiership title hopes in a fabulous, five-goal epic at Ibrox.

It looked like a fine second-half comeback would be enough to claim a point for Danny Rohl's championship chasers, before Longelo's shot was deflected beyond Jack Butland to give the visitors their first win since the end of February.

First-half strikes by Lukas Fadinger and Longelo had the visitors cruising after 25 minutes - the second successive match in which Rangers faced a two-goal deficit.

Unlike at Falkirk two weeks ago, though, the Ibrox side could not emerge unscathed, despite claiming parity for a while through Youssef Chermiti and Nico Raskin goals.

It means Rangers miss the chance to leapfrog city rivals Celtic, and stay bahind leaders Hearts.

Totally outplayed in the first half, a triple substitution at the break revitalised Rangers and completely changed the momentum of the match.

Within minutes of the restart, Chermiti coolly curled in, before the Portugal under-21 international headed a cross off team-mate Raskin to rouse Ibrox further.

Rangers piled forward looking for the win but couldn't find a third and were finally undone by Longelo after yet another Motherwell counter-attack.

This was a sensational return to form for Jens Berthel-Askou's side, who put their recent run of four defeats and a draw firmly behind them with a mesmerising display full of bravery, movement and fast-flowing football.

They completely outplayed their hosts and it was no surprise at all when they took the lead. A lovely move was given the finish it deserved when Stephen O'Donnell's pass into the area was perfectly slotted home by Fadinger.

If the Ibrox crowd were stunned by that, worse was to follow when, after another fine move, a wonderful cross from Tom Sparrow was met by a perfect first-time finish by Longelo.

For a team in the midst of a three-way title fight - and playing at home - Rangers offered surprisingly little.

But Rohl made his intentions clear with a triple-substitution - Mikey Moore, James Tavernier and Mohamed Diomande replacing Bojan Miovski, Jayden Meghoma and Tochi Chukwuani.

There was nearly an instant impact when Djeidi Gassama's cross clipped the top of the bar, and momentum did change as Rangers pulled themselves level.

But Motherwell weathered the storm and pressed forward to snatch a winner. They remain fourth and have given their hopes of European football a shot in the arm.

Graphic

Analysis: No escape for Rangers this time as Motherwell rediscover form

In the end, it was too little, too late for Rangers, who once again gave themselves a mountain to climb by going two goals behind.

They very nearly escaped with a point, which could have taken them top, but 'nearly' won't cut it at this stage of the season.

In this increasingly gripping title-race, it's far too early to tell whether this defeat is fatal to their hopes or just a bad day at the office.

What is clear is that spilling points at home at this stage of the campaign isn't clever. Especially when you factor in the tricky upcoming trips to Tynecastle, Celtic Park and the Falkirk Stadium.

As for Motherwell, there will be yet more plaudits thrown their way. For 45 minutes, they were magnificent and carried out the manager's philosophy to the letter. Energy, no fear, and an unnerving ability to slice through opponents.

Rangers had no answer until Rohl's half-time re-jig.

It was hard for Motherwell to sustain the excellence of the first-half, especially when Rangers pressed forward with far greater urgency immediately after the interval.

But after their poorest run of the season - with four defeats from five - they found their best form when they really needed it to dig out a precious win which could have far-reaching consequences for their own prospects as well as the title run-in.

What they said

Rohl on Motherwell defeat

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl: "It's tough when you are 2-0 down. You have to fight and you have to do a lot of things right and we did until we conceded the goal.

"Second half, we played a good game, then created a lot of chances. Finally, it was unlucky, we conceded one more goal and then it's tough to come back.

"I've been complimenting my players about the reaction, how much courage we put in, quality, intensity and it was good to see. Today, it's a little bit tough to take but we keep believing and this is the most important thing - four more finals."

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou: "The result, it's hard not to say that's very pleasing. First half was right up there with us at the very best.

"Second half became a much more difficult half, both because Rangers stepped up and lifted their game and because we didn't have that same sharpness in our game.

"To stay cool and to still play our game when you have more than 50,000 try to help push for the winner - really impressed with that."

'Title not won or lost today, but this is big'

Scottish Football Podcast

26/04/26

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What's next for these sides?

Rangers have a full week to prepare for a blockbuster bank holiday Monday trip to league leaders, Hearts (17:30 BST).

Motherwell head to the Falkirk Stadium on Saturday (15:00) having taken just a single point from the three previous Premiership meetings between the sides.

Player of the match

E. Longelo
9.49
47 M. Moore
3.75
9 Youssef Chermiti
3.69
2 J. Tavernier
3.67
10 M. Diomandé
3.30
1 J. Butland
3.28
37 E. Fernandez
3.20
43 N. Raskin
3.10
24 N. Djiga
3.08
21 D. Sterling
2.97
8 C. Barron
2.97
3 M. Aarons
2.84
23 D. Gassama
2.80
42 T. Chukwuani
2.75
28 B. Miovski
2.70
11 T. Aasgaard
2.69
30 J. Meghoma
2.58
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