With 14 games to go, that’s a healthy advantage to have and now the Light Blues will look to keep that cushion when they entertain Hibernian at Ibrox on Sunday.
This certainly wasn’t one of the champions’ better nights of the season and for long parts of the game they were run ragged by Craig Brown’s side.
But if nothing else, they deserve praise for the way they stuck to their task and ground out another precious point at a treacherous venue.
Gers manager Walter Smith made four changes to the side which drew 0-0 with St Mirren in the Scottish Cup last Saturday.
Kevin Thomson, Kyle Lafferty and Danny Wilson all dropped to the bench after starting in Paisley while Stevie Smith fell out of the squad altogether.
Back came David Weir beside Madjid Bougherra in central defence, with Sasa Papac also returning from a knee injury.
A much bigger boost for the Light Blues was the return of first-choice strike pairing Boyd and Kenny Miller, two players with 33 goals between them going into the game.
While Rangers were unbeaten in 14 matches prior to this one, Motherwell were on a good run themselves.
Having kept clean sheets in each of their last five SPL fixtures, they had taken 13 points from an available 15 in that sequence.
Given they had drawn each of their last four home league ties with the champions, they began the 90 minutes with high hopes of another positive result.
But as the teams lined up for kick off, it seemed whoever might come out on top was going to have to do so in spite of an awful playing surface.
Despite Well’s very best attempts to deflect criticism of their park, the truth is it was well below the standards you would expect.
And while one of the harshest winters in living memory is undoubtedly a factor in that, the heavily-sanded, patchwork pitch shouldn’t be as bad as it is.
Backed by a boisterous travelling support, Rangers tried to build themselves an advantage before the surface cut up but that proved difficult even in the early stages.
Indeed, it was hardly surprising that neither side could build any rhythm at first and the likelihood appeared to be that misplaced passes would be the theme for the night.
Home forward John Sutton had the first chance of the match when he connected with the lively Tom Hateley’s cross after good work by Jim O’Brien.
But the former Dundee player was always struggling to get it on target and he headed well over the crossbar instead.
To their credit, Gers did try to keep the ball on the ground when they had possession but it was the hosts who were catching more sight of goal.
Lukas Jutkiewicz had a go from long range but again he didn’t catch it properly and his low shot from 25 yards rolled straight into Allan McGregor’s arms.
Nevertheless, Motherwell kept piling pressure on and forced a string of corners, even if none of them proved to be particularly fruitful.
McGregor had to be sharp to keep out an awkward effort from distance by Sutton before the visitors finally had a chance of their own.
Boyd was barged in the back by Stephen Craigan and despite claims from home supporters the striker had gone down too easily, it was a clear free kick.
Steven Davis stepped up to take it 20 yards out but there was no repeat of his stunning set piece against Falkirk recently on this occasion.
Instead, the ball dropped just the wrong side of John Ruddy’s post – although the on-loan Everton goalkeeper would have struggled to reach it had it been between the posts.
Where Davis failed, Hateley succeeded after 28 minutes as he gave Motherwell a lead they probably deserved.
Steven Naismith was ruled to have committed a foul 30 yards out and when the son of Gers legend Mark stepped up to take the resulting free kick, it sailed into the top corner.
It didn’t seem terribly apt that such a good strike should come on such a poor pitch but it did and it left the table toppers with it all to do.
They hadn’t got going at all but Boyd tried to spark them into life with a rasping half-volley from 25 yards after a neat flick by Miller but Ruddy was equal to it.
There were claims for a penalty when Davis played a one-two with Boyd going into the box and appeared to be clipped.
Had he gone to ground, the Northern Ireland midfielder might well have got it but paid for trying to keep going as the rebound fell to Naismith and he blazed wide.
Back came the Steelmen, with Ross Forbes digging the ball out from under his feet and forcing McGregor into action.
But play was swinging from end to end a little more and Ruddy did well to gather a dangerous Papac cross that might have presented an opportunity to equalise.
McCulloch then came so close with a well-hit effort from 30 yards but Ruddy got down well once again to beat the ball away to safety.
Rangers finally began to settle but at the wrong time as half-time came with them trailing by a goal.
Boss Smith went with a more offensive approach in the second period, throwing on Nacho Novo for Kirk Broadfoot and shifting Steven Whittaker to right-back.
The change worked initially, with Novo bursting clear to release Miller, only for his cut back to be intercepted by Craigan as Boyd looked for it.
But from there, Rangers were very fortunate to see another home goal disallowed for offside when TV replays showed it should have stood.
A deep free kick came into the box and some poor marking by the Light Blues allowed Craigan to poke it back across goal.
Forbes then touched it in before it crossed the line, with linesman John Gilmour ruling he did so having been too far forward when his defensive team-mate played the ball.
Had the youngster left it to roll into the net, the chances are it would have been given – but the fact it wasn’t was a massive let-off for Gers.
The quiet Naismith was soon replaced with Lafferty and when he was brought down, Boyd had a chance to fire in a free kick but the wall stood up well.
With time ticking down, Rangers were sitting further and further up the field with Well looking to pick them off on the break.
Davis nearly directed the ball in and it took a late grasp by Ruddy to deny him while the keeper got a touch on a great chance for Boyd as it went over but a goal kick was given.
And then, at last, Gers finally made a breakthrough with 10 minutes left and it was that man Boyd who got the goal with his 20th of the campaign.
Papac got in a cross at the second attempt but the slightest hesitation in the home rearguard gave the prolific hitman the room he needed to prod in from close range.
That sparked jubilant scenes in the away areas of the ground and with the champions in the ascendancy, they set about trying to get a winner.
Bougherra’s mazy run won them a corner, only for the big Algerian to give a free kick away as he handled the ball when it came in.
With that, one final chance to grab a narrow victory was gone and a fifth consecutive stalemate at Fir Park was the end result instead.