Rangers vs Hamilton Academical. Scottish Premiership.
Ibrox StadiumAttendance49,125.
Sunday 7 August 2016 18:02, UK
Martyn Waghorn rescued a point for Rangers as they drew 1-1 with Hamilton Academical on their return to the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers fell behind in the 30th minute of their first top-flight game since 2012 as Ali Crawford netted for the Accies at Ibrox.
But Mark Warburton's side fought their way back into the game and Waghorn eventually pulled them level just after the hour.
Rangers' push for a winner was halted late on, however, as Waghorn was forced off with a hamstring injury that left them with 10 men for the final few minutes.
Rangers had the ball in the back of the net just over 60 seconds after kick-off as Waghorn's low ball across the six-yard box was turned in by Kenny Miller, but the goal was ruled out as Waghorn was rightly adjudged to have carried the ball out of play before finding his team-mate.
The home side continued to dominate possession and the chances in the early stages, as Andy Halliday and Waghorn were denied by the Accies, before the away side took a shock lead on the half-hour mark.
Crawford picked up a loose ball inside the area, before turning his man and bending a wonderful effort past the helpless Wes Foderingham and into the top corner.
Rangers took charge again but, aside from Waghorn's free-kick which hit the outside of the post, failed to create any more chances to get level before half-time.
Warburton's side struggled to get going in the early stages of the second half, and the Rangers boss was forced to make a double change on the hour to try and get them back into the game.
And it paid immediate dividends as Harry Forrester, on for the ineffective Niko Kranjcar, picked up the ball in the Accies half seconds after coming on and played a perfectly-weighted pass with the outside of his foot into the path of Waghorn, who finished past Remi Matthews first time in the Hamilton goal.
It looked like the goal would set up a grandstand finish at Ibrox as the home side chased a winner, but the Accies were resolute and Rangers failed to carve out any real chances in the final half an hour, aside from a couple of efforts flashed over by Forrester.
