But an early Steven Naismith goal in the second half set the ball rolling and further strikes from Steven Davis, Kenny Miller and Vladimir Weiss left Craig Brown’s men shell shocked.
It was a brilliant second half display in stark contrast to the first with excellent goals from Davis and Weiss the highlights.
The Light Blues looked a side transformed after the break as they finally found the tempo and rhythm to break down their visitors.
In the first period they had struggled to do that despite starting brightly enough, forcing a corner in the opening minute.
The early signs were good that they could find the openings with Steven Whittaker doing well on the right to make himself some space but his final ball was poor and that was too often the case in the opening 45 minutes.
While credit goes to Motherwell for the discipline and energy that went in to a solid defensive display, all too often Rangers looked lethargic.
They struggled throughout the opening period to find any sort of rhythm or momentum to trouble a Motherwell side content to defend.
Craig Brown’s men had come with a game plan and they executed it expertly for the opening 45 minutes.
Having allowed Rangers the majority of possession in the early stages they began to open up midway through the first half.
And while they struggled to trouble Rangers on the majority of occasions when they did find one opening they made the most of it.
Excellent work on the left hand side saw Jamie Murphy glide past Whittaker and whip a ball to the back post.
It was only just under the crossbar and presented Nick Blackman with the simplest of chances as he headed in off the bar.
The timing was ideal for the visitors and frustrating for the home side, who had enjoyed the bulk of the ball in the opening period.
Walter Smith will no doubt have made it clear to his charges what was expected in the second period and the timing of the Light Blues’ equaliser couldn’t have been better.
In the end it wasn’t a pretty goal but when Kyle Lafferty found a gap in the Steelmen’s back line Naismith was quick enough to make it on to the end of the pass and his prod at the ball took it beyond Darren Randolph and over the line.
With barely a minute of the second half played Rangers had worked their way level again and from that point their body language changed.
There was intent in their attacks that had been lacking in the first half and that was epitomised by Davis as he edged his side in front.
The Northern Ireland midfielder collected the ball just inside the visitors’ half and carried it to the edge of the box before unleashing a brilliant strike that flew in to the top corner.
With just over an hour gone it seemed Rangers had earned control of the game and they pressed that home with a devastating spell of attacking.
Naismith turned architect as he stepped in from the left flank to create space and rather than shoot in search of a second he picked out Miller with a teasing cross that the striker gratefully dived to nod over the line.
It was telling that as the ball hit the net Miller’s team mates turned instead to Naismith to credit him as the creator.
If that knocked the stuffing out of the visitors, then the fourth well and truly finished them.
Mo Edu sliced the defence open with a fine pass and Weiss latched on to it, showing great footwork and pace to skip round the advancing Randolph and slot home.
Ibrox was jumping at that point and with the game won Walter Smith used the final twenty minutes to rest Miller, Davis and Weiss with Gregg Wylde, Rory Loy and Kyle Hutton taking their places.