ALLAN McGREGOR's sensational penalty save rescued a hard fought point for ten man Rangers at Fir Park.

A moment of madness from Madjid Bougherra saw the Algerian red carded for two bookings in the aftermath to the 85th minute spot kick award.

But McGregor refused to lose his focus and threw himself to his left to claw Jim O'Brien's penalty away and keep the game goalless.

Bougherra had conceded the spot kick when Lukas Jutkiewicz went down under the close attention of the former Charlton defender and his protestations to ref Dougie McDonald saw him booked twice in less than a minute.

That will have frustrated boss Walter Smith, but McGregor's heroics no doubt left the Ibrox manager as the happier of the two bosses after it looked certain Gers would leave Fir Park pointless.

It would certainly not have been a deserved defeat for the Light Blues, and Smith will perhaps have felt his side could have had the match won before the drama of the final few minutes.

While the home side enjoyed some consistent spells of possession, McGregor was rarely called in to action in a first half that saw Rangers suffer their biggest scare when Davie Weir went down injured on the half way line.

The veteran defender blocked an attempted clearance from Yassin Moutaouakil and fell to the turf in agony. However Walter Smith will have been relieved to see him return to his feet after brief treatment from physio Pip Yeates.

The scare came during arguably Rangers' brightest spell as a composed midfield threatened to open up the home defence.

And it was Weir's defensive partner Sasa Papac who came closest during the first fifteen minutes when he was almost on the end of a move he started deep in his own half.

He combined well with Pedro Mendes and Kenny Miller before continuing his run in to the box to get on the end of Kris Boyd's cushioned header.

However Motherwell keeper John Ruddy nipped the ball off the Bosnian's head just as it seemed certain the full back would open the scoring.

Clearly not wanting to be left out, fellow defender Madjid Bougherra was next to threaten the Motherwell net when his marauding run from the back ended with a curled left foot shot from 20 yards that Ruddy held comfortably.

And while the Gers defenders were all pitching in further up the field, they were posted absent with seven minutes of the half remaining when John Sutton was given far too much time and space in the box, only to blow the home side's best chance of the half.

He was almost made to pay just minutes later when a patient move down the Gers' right hand side saw the ball fall to Miller just 15 yards out but the Scotland man got too much on the ball and it flew a yard over Ruddy's bar.

The action for the Well keeper wasn't over there though as he got down well a minute later to palm away Bougherra's glanced header from a wicked Rothen free kick.

McGregor was called in to action as early as the first minute of the second half when Steven Hammell's vicious cross was palmed away by the outstretched keeper as he threw himself back in to his net.

It was not the sign Smith would have wanted from his side as he looked for an improvement in the second forty five minutes.

And clearly unhappy with the way things were shaping up the Ibrox boss made a double change on the hour mark as he removed new boy Rothen and forward Miller in favour of Nacho Novo and Steven Naismith.

The two substitutions allowed the shape of the Light Blues line up to change and Naismith almost made a difference within a minute of his introduction.

His diagonal run allowed him to get to the ball just ahead of Ruddy in the home goal and that caused confusion among the Well defence with Naismith and Davis both getting bites at the cherry without either able to force the ball home.

And the two subs were in the thick of it again with 18 minutes to go when a sharp one-two opened up space for Novo to fire a powerful effort at Ruddy that the keeper did well to parry clear.

It was a sign of what was to follow as the two pairs of fresh legs continued to cause the home side problems as Jim Gannon's team began to tire after a hard working performance.

However Rangers could not find a way through the home defence and were leaving gaps at the back for the home side to exploit, with Weir and Papac collecting bookings as they blocked Well breakaways.

But Bougherra was less fortunate when his challenge came in the dying moments. However it will be his reaction that boss Smith will find most disappointing - leaving Rangers clinging on at the end for what could prove to be a crucial point.