RANGERS were held to a draw against Livingston this afternoon as a first-half Joel Nouble goal was cancelled out by a late John Lundstram strike at Ibrox.
The visitors took the lead just four minutes into the match, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men were unable to turn it around despite some late action in the Scottish Premiership.
There were six changes from the midweek Premier Sports Cup victory over Dundee as Allan McGregor, Ben Davies, Borna Barisic, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent and Antonio Colak all came back into the starting line-up.
Captain James Tavernier and midfielder Steven Davis both marked another impressive milestone in their respective careers as they made their 250th league appearances for the club.
Rangers lined-up with McGregor in goal and a back four of James Tavernier, Leon King, Ben Davies and Borna Barisic. John Lundstram and Steven Davis were in midfield alongside Malik Tillman, with Scott Arfield and Ryan Kent supporting striker Antonio Colak.
Prior to kick-off, Ibrox fell silent in memory of former Rangers striker Jimmy Millar following his sad death earlier this week.
It was Gers who got the action underway as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men looked to extend their winning run in the domestic campaign.
Antonio Colak had a good chance to open the scoring with just three minutes on the clock as he got on the end of a cross from Ryan Kent to guide a header towards the Livingston goal but it was just wide of the post.
In a lively start, it was the visitors who managed to take the early advantage with a goal inside the opening five minutes. Christian Montano was able to advance from left-back to deliver a ball into the box which broke for striker Joel Nouble around the penalty mark and he managed to finish low beyond Allan McGregor.
Rangers were struggling to create opportunities in front of goal in the opening period, and it was Livingston who had another chance as the match approached the 20 minute mark.
A corner was delivered into the box by Sean Kelly and met the head of Jack Fitzwater deep in the box. The defender tried to head the ball back across goal and into a dangerous area, which was cleared by Rangers but fell back to Fitzwater who released a powerful strike across goal but it flashed wide of Allan McGregor’s left-hand post.
The Light Blues were seeing the majority of possession and looked to carve an opening as a good cross from Borna Barisic was headed into the path of Scott Arfield by Tavernier, but Arfield’s shot was blocked by Fitzwater inside the box.
Antonio Colak saw an effort go wide shortly after as he managed to get a touch on a Ryan Kent cross to send it towards goal but the ball bounced wide of the target, before the Croatian saw a strike from the edge of the box also drift wide of Shamal George’s post.
Sean Kelly saw the first booking of the match, as he picked up a yellow card for a mistimed challenge on Scott Arfield as the midfielder raced towards goal following a break from a Livingston free-kick.
As a result of the challenge, Rangers had a free-kick of their own in a dangerous position, with Borna Barisic going for goal but his curling left-footed shot was wide of the target. Behind at the break, van Bronckhorst made two changes to his side as James Sands and Rabbi Matondo were introduced in place of Steven Davis and Leon King at half-time.
John Lundstram had a shot from distance deflected wide early in the second-half as Rangers looked to make a strong start to the second period before Colak had a shot tipped away from goal by Livingston goalkeeper George following a quick throw-in from Tavernier.
Antonio Colak came close with an overhead kick after a cross from Arfield as the Light Blues continued to push for an equaliser at Ibrox.
With 25 minutes of the game remaining, Alfredo Morelos was introduced in place of Scott Arfield and joined Antonio Colak up front.
A late challenge from substitute Morgan Boyes on Alfredo Morelos saw the Livingston man shown a yellow card by the referee. However, for the first time in this match, VAR was called into action as David Munro made his way trackside and after viewing the footage overturned the yellow card and handed Boyes a straight-red for the tackle.
Rabbi Matondo had to be replaced with 10 minutes of the match remaining after picking up an injury, with Fashion Jr coming on in his place, before Giovanni van Bronckhorst made his final change of the game introducing Kemar Roofe in place of Borna Barisic.
In the final minute of the 90, Rangers were back level. James Tavernier’s ball from the right wasn’t dealt with by Livingston and Ryan Kent was able to whip the ball back into the box. It broke for John Lundstram around the penalty spot and the midfielder hit it first time to burst the net and get Rangers back in this match.
The fourth official indicated seven minutes of added time and Antonio Colak came ever so close to getting Rangers a winner as he headed a Ryan Kent cross towards goal but it was saved well by Shamal George before heading just over shortly after.
RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, King (Sands, 46), Davies, Barisic (Roofe, 81), Lundstram, Davis (Matondo, 46 (Fashion Jr, 79)), Arfield (Morelos, 66), Tillman, Kent, Colak.
Subs not used: McLaughlin, Ridvan, Wright, McCann.
Livingston: George, Devlin, Obileye, Fitzwater, Montano (Longridge, 44), Shinnie (Guthrie, 73), Stephen Kelly (Penrice, 64), Holt, Pittman, Sean Kelly (Boyes, 73), Nouble.
Subs not used: Hamilton, Bahamboula, Anderson, Goncalves, Cancar.
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