Rangers 4 - 1 Montrose: RM Match Report and Ratings

[Thommo 708]

Match Report

Ally McCoist received the best early birthday present he could hope for as Rangers swept aside Montrose with a 4-1 win at Ibrox.

McCoist, who will turn 50 tomorrow, made one change to the side that crashed out of the Ramsdens Cup on penatlies against Queen of the South on Tuesday. Francisco Sandaza was the man who dropped to the bench, and was replaced by Sebastien Faure.

Rangers made a bright start to the game, which they have very rarely done so far this season.

However, despite being on the back foot early on, Montrose finally made a break of their own. Loanee striker Leighton McIntosh’s shot on the edge of the box was blocked by Faure and went behind. From the resulting corner, Greek versatility man Antestis Argyirou seemed to panic and headed towards his own goal but to his relief the ball crashed back off the post.

The Gable Endies continued to pile on the early pressure, as McIntosh showed good strength and skill to break free of the defence but Neil Alexander got down well to smother the ball.

Rangers eventually conjured a chance of their own, as Barrie McKay set up Dean Shiels who flicked the ball over a defender before pulling the trigger, but his strike flew over.

The home side now seemed to be controlling the possession and won a free kick in a dangerous area. Up stepped Lee McCulloch who was unlucky to see his disguised low effort go just wide of the post.

It now looked as if it was only a matter of time until Rangers opened the scoring, and McCulloch was unlucky not to do so shortly after his initial attempt. This time it came from a nice attacking move, with Lee Wallace using his pace to get away from his marker, before passing inside to Dean Shiels who produced a lay off for McCulloch but the stalwart dragged his shot wide.

In the 26th minute, Ally McCoist’s men inevitably broke the deadlock. Lee McCulloch was involved yet again, as his header sent Dean Shiels racing through on goal and the Northern Irishman made no mistake to smash the ball into the bottom corner.

However, Montrose capitalised on Rangers’ dodgy defending 6 minutes later to get themselves back on level terms. The away side swung in a dangerous free kick from the side of the pitch and Gary Wood rose highest to bundle the ball past Alexander.

Rangers reacted well to losing a goal, and they continued to attack. McKay and Wallace combined well, with the latter weaving through the Montrose backline, but Montrose goalkeeper David Crawford came out quickly to narrow the angle and the ball went behind for a corner.

Rangers came out the second half looking as if they meant business. Lee McCulloch done well to turn away from his marker and chipped the ball in to Barrie McKay who controlled the ball expertly, but could only curl his shot agonisingly wide.

Frustrations were beginning to grow at Ibrox, but quickly vanished when Rangers got their noses in front for the second time in the match thanks to stunning individual play from Lewis MacLeod. The midfielder’s terrific first touch allowed him to easily spin away from his marker before slamming the ball into the far corner of the net to open his account in a Rangers shirt.

Rangers then double their advantage moments later as McLeod turned from scorer to creator, as he burst through the tiring Montrose defence and played a teasing pass which was latched on to by McCulloch, who slotted the ball home to give Ally McCoist’s men some breathing space.

The home side were now in cruise control, and 17-year-old substitute Fraser Aird - making his Rangers debut - was showing glimpses of what he is capable of in the midfield area.

Rangers’ other substitute Robbie Crawford made it 4-1 with 10 minutes remaining to complete the rout, and like McLeod he claimed his first senior goal with a neat side-footed finish into the bottom corner to secure all 3 points.

Player Watch

[imgleft]http://rangersmedia.co.uk/images/resized/images/wv12rangersvmontrose_200_200.jpg[/imgleft]A slightly better performance from Rangers today, but it took them a while to get going. Here are my individual ratings for each player today.

Neil Alexander (6) - Didn't have much to do but should have made sure he organised his defence better at set pieces.

Sebastien Faure (6) - Looked comfortable at right back.

Ross Perry (6) - Made a shaky start to the game but eventually started to grow in confidence and wasn't tested in the second half.

Emilson Cribari (6) - Looked unsure and quite dodgy in the opening stages but like Perry he eventually settled into the game.

Lee Wallace (6) - As always, he supported attacking moves and didn't put a foot wrong defensively.

Anestis Argyirou (6) - Always bust a gut to get into the box and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.

Ian Black (6) - Looked very tidy in the engine room.

Lewis MacLeod (8) - Pulled the strings in midfield and scored a sublime solo goal. He also set up McCulloch to make it 3-1.

Barrie McKay (6) - Made a few slack passes early on but always looked lively and should have scored early in the second half.

Dean Shiels (6) - Great finish to open the scoring but tried to be too fancy at times when he should have just kept it simple.

Lee McCulloch (7) - Ran the Montrose defence ragged, showed lots of neat touches and got on the scoresheet.

Subs:

Fraser Aird (5) - Looked very confident and direct on his debut, hopefully we see more of him in the coming weeks.

Robbie Crawford (4) - Scored a great side-footed goal to complete the rout.

Francisco Sandaza (3) - Tried to make things happen but still looks rusty up front.

Well done to RangersMedia's man of the match, Lewis MacLeod!

[Shootinfishin 93]

Agree more or less with most of your ratings apart from the Greek tragedy, I don't think he merited 6 but that's just my opinion.

Good write

[GersAvA92 53]

Alexander - 6

Faure - 6

Perry - 6

Cribari - 6

Wallace - 7

Argyriou - 6

MacLeod - 8

Black - 6

McKay - 6

Shiels - 7

McCulloch - 6

Subs:

Aird - 6

Sandaza - 4

Crawford - 5

[foghorn leghorn 608]

Maybe I was at the wrong match,but I thought Blackie played/controled the midfield very well,but saw him clutching his hammy and was subbed later.

Maybe Ally's saving him for the Well game.

[bennyali 248]

Argyirou did get on the scoresheet...

[Non_Sucumbi 876]

Argyirou did get on the scoresheet...

:wanker:

[No.12 508]

Argyirou did get on the scoresheet...

[IanFerguson2012 123]

Got to meet the man of the match after the game in the Thornton Suite. He was presented with his bottle of 'Tennents' champagne.

[bennyali 248]

:wanker:

Usually twice a week