RANGERS dropped the first points of the Pedro Caixinha era as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Motherwell at Ibrox.
The Portuguese got his reign as boss off to a winning start against Hamilton last month but there was no repeat here as the Steelmen clinched a share of the spoils.
Joe Garner cancelled out Louis Moult’s second minute opener as the Light Blues fell ten points adrift of Aberdeen in the Premiership standings.
Caixinha made two changes from the side that beat Accies before the international break as Lee Hodson took over from James Tavernier at right-back and Rob Kiernan returned from suspension to take the place of Danny Wilson.
Another capacity Ibrox crowd gave the Portuguese a warm welcome for his second outing in the dugout but it was the away support who had something to cheer inside three minutes.
Chris Cadden swung in a corner and Moult rose highest in the area to head the ball beyond Wes Foderingham and give Stephen Robinson’s side a dream start.
There was no immediate reaction from Rangers as they struggled to get going and Motherwell equipped themselves well once again at Ibrox.
Jon Toral sent Martyn Waghorn clear with a terrific ball that split the Well defence but the striker went down as Craig Samson rushed from his line. He was rightly booked for diving by referee Steven McLean.
As the clock ticked on, frustrations began to grow in the home ranks as Caixinha’s side offered little attacking threat.
By the time a round of boos greeted them at the whistle, the Gers only had a low effort from Waghorn and two quick-fire strikes from Hodson to their credit.
The Light Blues re-emerged a much-changed outfit at the break as Michael O’Halloran, Garner and Andy Halliday took to the field in place of Hodson, Lee Wallace and Clint Hill.
The tactical switches from Caixinha saw Toral drop slot into a centre-back role with Kiernan and Halliday on either side.
Holt sat just in front of the back three, with O’Halloran, Kenny Miller, Emerson Hyndman and Barrie McKay across the middle and Garner and Waghorn combining up front.
Rangers were certainly more positive in the opening exchanges and Garner saw a header cleared off the line by Ben Heneghan before he could only direct a McKay corner at Samson.
When the striker got his next sight of goal, he found the net. Miller’s cross from the right evaded the Well defence and Garner converted at the back post to pull Rangers level on the hour mark.
Just minutes later, Motherwell had the ball in the net for a second time but the goal was chopped off after Moult’s shot hit Stephen Pearson in an offside position. Keeper Foderingham then pulled off a terrific save to stop Ryan Bowman’s header.
At the other end, Hyndman was denied by Samson and the ball just ran away from Waghorn as he looked to convert.
After Rangers again failed to clear their lines from a Cadden corner, Foderingham came to their rescue as he clawed away a Scott McDonald effort at the near post.
Rangers continued to push forward in search of a winner and Waghorn came close with a curling free-kick before Samson’s smart low stop denied Garner his second goal of the afternoon.
Hyndman twice tried his luck in injury time but it was to prove a frustrating end for Caixinha as his side failed to find a winner and he saw two crucial points slip through his grasp.
Rangers return to action against Kilmarnock in midweek before they make the trip to Pittodrie for the must-win clash with Aberdeen on Sunday.
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