Lovenkrands finishes a passionate affair for Rangers

Rangers 3 Motherwell

With Rangers £52 million in the red, Alex McLeish may have little say in whether Mikel Arteta and Peter Lovenkrands fall prey to predatory advances. The only debt-settling that concerns the Ibrox manager is cancelling out Celtic's hold on the Scottish Premier League title, and he needs his gifted young pair around for that to happen.

Arteta is wanted by Athletic Bilbao – which for a Basque is almost a call to national service – while Inter are stalking Lovenkrands, and while the latter's two goals sealed this success, it was the artful Spaniard who embellished it.

While the thrilling 3–3 draw in the Old Firm derby at Parkhead a fortnight ago had the Rangers fans turning up early in anticipation, the same could not be said of Motherwell, who arrived late after being caught in a motorway logjam.

That set the tone for Terry Butcher's side, who seemed disorientated and never once touched the ball in the opening two minutes as the one-way traffic towards Steve Woods saw the goalkeeper pick the ball out of the net after just 118 seconds.

Arteta whipped in a low cross for Claudio Caniggia to get ahead of his markers, but the ball broke for Lorenzo Amoruso, who spun and stabbed it past poor Woods.

Butcher's young team had not won any of their four previous games since defeating Celtic so lustily, and without teenage Scotland striker James McFadden – who was suspended – it seemed as if the deck was loaded against them.

When Arteta drilled the ball against the base of a post in the 28th minute, it seemed only a matter of time until the lead increased. However, what Motherwell lack in years they make up for in industry, and Butcher's tyros dug in grittily, in the manner of their manager.

When Dirk Lehmann departed with a back injury just before the interval, Iain Russell joined his fellow teenager Steven Ferguson in attack. The sum total of the pair's years barely exceeded that of Caniggia, but neither possessed the Argentine's guile, a fact that Russell underlined in the 49th minute when he squandered a wonderful chance to equalise after Steven Hammell had unlocked Rangers with yet another fine cross.

The only problem for Motherwell was that their effort lacked a cutting edge. The contest was sealed with 18 minutes left, with Arteta yet again the creator. This time the Spaniard spun on the edge of the box and clipped a cross to Lovenkrands which the latter planted past Woods with a clinical header.

Motherwell's misery was complete when David Patridge's dismissal four minutes later, for a foul on Fernando Ricksen, reduced the visitors to 10 men and Rangers took advantage in stoppage time when Ronald de Boer pounced after Lovenkrands drove at the defence and saw his blocked shot fall kindly to the Dutch international.

Rangers 3 Motherwell 0
Amoruso 2, Lovenkrands 72, de Boer 90

Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 49,376