Ross County vs Rangers. Scottish Premiership.
Global Energy StadiumAttendance6,401.
Match report as Man Utd loanee Amad Diallo fires Rangers ahead on his debut; Jordan White and Regan Charles-Cook take advantage of Rangers errors to put Ross County ahead at half-time; James Tavernier and Connor Goldson sent Rangers back ahead; Matthew Wright goal seals point for hosts
Sunday 30 January 2022 09:47, UK
Matthew Wright's last-gasp goal saw Ross County hold Scottish Premiership leaders Rangers to a 3-3 draw in a thrilling game littered with errors.
Heading into the game, both league meetings this season had ended in 4-2 wins for Rangers, and it was another goalfest at the Global Energy Stadium as Ross County avoided defeat against the Gers for the first time since 2017.
The topsy-turvy encounter saw Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo score five minutes into his Rangers debut. It was some wonderful play from Joe Aribo to drive into the area, flashing a ball through the six-yard box which the 19-year-old tapped home towards the back post.
Ross County could have been down to 10 men too as Jack Baldwin caught Borna Barisic on the thigh with his studs up, but only received a yellow card. "He's not in control of what he's doing. It is a straight legger and he's very lucky," said Sky Sports' Kris Boyd of the challenge.
But some poor play from Rangers allowed Ross County to take the lead. Allan McGregor's spilled stop from Joseph Hungbo's cross was turned home by Jordan White (24). Regan Charles-Cook (29) then took advantage of some poor defending from Barisic and Calvin Bassey to give the hosts an unlikely lead.
"It's crazy defending - just deal with it. There's three opportunities to clear it," Boyd said at half-time. "Goldson, Barisic - deal with it. Bassey, I don't know what you're doing. But well done to Charles-Cook. He could have panicked... It's cool to roll it underneath McGregor's legs."
Rangers dominated the second half and both goals came in the same fashion as Ross County's equaliser. James Tavernier (49) turned home at the back post after Ashley Maynard-Brewer's own spilled save from Diallo soon after the break.
Connor Goldson (72) then put Rangers back ahead when the Ross County goalkeeper's rebounded stop from Arfield's driving shot fell into his path, allowing the defender to nod home.
The game looked to be decided as the clock ticked into the sixth minute of added time - a lengthy addition of seven minutes due to an injury to Maynard-Brewer - before some more poor goalkeeping from McGregor allowed Wright (90+6) to turn home at the back post and secure a point for the hosts.
The result means Rangers hold a two-point lead over Celtic following the Hoops' last-gasp win over Dundee Utd on Saturday. The pair then meet in the Old Firm on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports. Ross County remain in 10th on 22 points, five ahead of Dundee in 11th.
Sky Sports' Kris Boyd:
"Rangers totally dominated the second half. Even towards the end, we were saying that there was a funny feeling that Ross County might get something. It was just one of those days. Rangers' defending was terrible all day.
"When you come to places like this with the conditions, you've got the attacking talent, you've scored three goals away to a team that's near the bottom of the league and not won the game - Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be extremely disappointed.
"It doesn't matter how well Ross County have been doing in recent weeks… If you're going to defend that title, you have to come here and win. It changes a lot going into Wednesday night.
"There are a couple of mistakes in there from Allan McGregor. He should do better with the third one and definitely the first one. There was a sloppiness about Rangers in defending areas today.
"It won't affect him one single bit because it's done. There's nothing he can do now. It's not even a young goalkeeper you can say will learn from it - what is McGregor going to learn from that? It's two mistakes that he will know he should do better with.
"But if there's one person you want in the goal on Wednesday for Rangers, it's Allan McGregor. And would you be surprised if he made big saves on Wednesday? No."
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst told Sky Sports:
"It's very disappointing. It was a hard game. We started well with the first goal after a couple of minutes so that was good. But then we gave the two goals for Ross County and it made it really difficult for us.
"Second half, we started really well and dominated the whole half, created a lot of chances. We had chances to kill the game with the fourth and decisive goal. But in extra time, we were too sloppy. We gave the ball away, gave the corner away and concede a goal late in the game.
"It's not something I'm used to seeing, so many goals against us in this manner. We've done a lot better in the past, but today, many things went wrong, especially defensively. It was a difficult afternoon for us.
"If you go 1-0 up, you have to be solid. You have to make sure you don't give any chances away and try to score the second goal. Instead of doing that, we made two mistakes.
"The reaction we had in the second half was really good. But in the end, we gave two points back when we should have had three points."
Ross County manager Malky Mackay to Sky Sports:
"It was entertainment for the layman, but it's not quite that for the two managers.
"We've committed ourselves well to the game. There was a terrific atmosphere today in difficult circumstances for both teams in terms of the weather.
"But I thought we were always in the game. Tactically, we did really well in terms of the spaces we filled. We knew there were players in the opposition that were going to be a real threat.
"We knew that we were going to have to compensate for that but at the same time, I thought there were areas we could expose and it's the third time this year we've scored two or more goals against them.
"We knew there were chances, even in the last ten or 15 minutes, we knew we could score and we managed to.
"What we talk about is being calmer out of possession and making sure that when Rangers have possession of the ball, you fill your gaps and make sure the spaces in between each other are not too big. Then when the transition happens, we have the chance to break quickly. And I thought we did at times."
Ross County forward Regan Charles-Cook told Sky Sports:
"We fought to the end. They got back in the lead and we nicked a draw so we're happy.
"We knew they were going to come out and be aggressive, so it was up to us to stand firm. They got the two goals but we didn't die down.
"That's the character of this dressing room. We stand up to it and you can never count us out.
"I'm in double figures [for goals] and it was something I was looking to. The most important thing for me is that we got a result today.
"The manager always wants me to gamble - get in behind, get in the box... Fortunately, it came to me and McGregor spread himself well so I thought I'd go through him instead of around him."
James McFadden to Sky Sports:
"What a performance he put on. We know his qualities, he can play in a number of positions but he's just so comfortable on the ball, he's so elegant and he is so strong as well. He's got the final pass too.
"He's such a good football player. He was class and the best player on the pitch by a mile."
Ross County are back in action on Tuesday when they host Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership; kick-off 7.45pm. It's a huge midweek for Rangers too as they travel across Glasgow to face Celtic in the Old Firm on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 7.45pm.
