Rangers 1 - 0 Motherwell Wed 07/05/08

Barry Ferguson (74)

Barry Ferguson gave Rangers a lift in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title race by claiming the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win against Motherwell at Ibrox.

The captain came to the rescue with a 73rd-minute strike to hand Rangers their first SPL victory since the 1-0 win over Celtic at the same venue on March 29.

The Ibrox side are now four points behind their bitter rivals with two games in hand - and four trophies remain in their sights.

Rangers headed into the match aware there was no more room for error if they wanted to keep the title race in their own hands.

Manager Walter Smith opted for an attacking line-up, with Jean-Claude Darcheville and Kris Boyd deployed up front, and boosted by the pace of Nacho Novo on the left of midfield.

The first opportunity arrived with just two minutes on the clock. A neat pass from Darcheville allowed Barry Ferguson to release Boyd through on goal but his shot was blocked by the Motherwell defence.

Boyd then played Darcheville into the box before making a run to collect the return pass only to lose his footing and swipe at fresh air.

Rangers should have had a penalty when David Weir was pushed to the ground in the penalty box with the referee waving play on.

David Weir also came close when he saw a long-range header touched onto the crossbar by Smith, before Novo lashed the rebound into the side-netting.

At the other end Stephen Hughes set up Ross McCormack but he dragged his shot across goal and wide.

With half-time approaching, Boyd teed up a shot for Darcheville - only for the Frenchman to rifle wide of target as the first half ended in stalemate.

The Light Blues faithful would have jeered such a scoreline in the past but their ire was reserved for the match officials, with the players leaving the pitch to shouts and cheers of encouragement.

Set-pieces had proved to be Motherwell's Achilles heel against Celtic and they almost succumbed to an opener against the other half of the Old Firm two minutes after the restart.

Steven Davis' inswinging corner found the head of Weir but the veteran defender was again denied when he glanced across the goalmouth and past the upright.

Darcheville then pounced on a long clearance from Carlos Cuellar, only for Brian McLean to hoof his cross-cum-shot to safety - before blasting high and wide from just inside the box.

The breakthrough eventually came when a Davis corner was nodded on by Weir to Ferguson, who was waiting on the edge of the six-yard box to gratefully lash into the top corner of the net.

Boyd thought he had wrapped up the win late on when he netted - but the nearside assistant had already flagged for offside before the shot had left his boot.

RANGERS: Alexander, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Whittaker, Ferguson, Davis, Thomson, Boyd (Cousin 86), Darcheville (Adam 76), Novo,

Subs Not Used: Smith, Dailly, Lennon, Emslie, McMillan,

Ref: C Richmond

Man-of-the-match: Cuellar

Attendance: 48,238

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