Vaclav Cerny struck the winner as Rangers ground out a 2-1 win over Motherwell at Hampden Park on Saturday to pick up their first victory of the Scottish Premiership campaign.
The Gers, held 0-0 by Hearts in their opening match of the season last week, survived an early scare when Lennon Miller fired wide from a glorious position in the opening minutes.
However, after Scott Wright had an effort stopped on the line, Cyriel Dessers who rescued a late European draw against Dynamo Kyiv in midweek found the net from close range with 13 minutes on the clock.
Motherwell responded instantly as John Souttar failed to cut out a deep delivery and Robin Propper turned into his own net, but fellow new signing Cerny cut inside and curled in a delightful goal seven minutes later.
Aston Oxborough made some smart stops to frustrate Rangers, while Jack Butland was equal to a Zach Robinson effort in the second half as the hosts playing at Hampden due to ongoing renovation work at Ibrox saw out a rather flat win.
FULL-TIME: Rangers 2-1 Motherwell
Three Points at Hampden.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC)
Data Debrief: Home comforts for Rangers at Hampden
Rangers have now won their opening home league game in each of the past seven seasons by an aggregate score of 22-2, albeit this match was at Hampden rather than Ibrox.
Last week s draw with Hearts was underwhelming, but the Light Blues avoided going back-to-back league games without a win to begin a season for the first time since 1989-90 with this victory.
