Kilmarnock 0-0 Rangers: Tavernier suffers penalty agony in stalemate
Rangers and Kilmarnock face a Scottish Cup fifth-round replay at Ibrox after a goalless draw at Rugby Park on Saturday. The Gers were held by Kilmarnock as James Tavernier missed a first-half penalty and neither side could find the breakthrough.
Jermain Defoe started up front in place of the suspended Alfredo Morelos for Rangers. Andy Halliday replaced Borna Barisic at left-back.
Kilmarnock made the better start, with Connor McAleny coming close from 25 yards after winning the ball inside the Rangers half. Allan McGregor then kept out a Chris Burke free-kick. Rangers had to be defensively solid to keep Kilmarnock at bay and they did exactly that.
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers were awarded a penalty when Kirk Broadfoot was penalised for handball after he dived on to the floor to block Scott Arfield’s low shot with his body. They had a glorious chance to take the lead after a quarter of an hour but James Tavernier missed from the spot, leaving Gerrard frustrated.
Kilmarnock also had a chance to put their noses in front in the first half, after a Burke corner sparked a goalmouth scramble which was cleared off the line by Halliday.
Gerrard would have demanded more from his boys after the break but chances weren’t just arriving for Rangers as the midfield trio of Scott Arfield, Ross McCrorie and Ryan Jack struggled to control the tempo of the game. Slowly, the Gers started dominating the possession as the game opened up.
Joe Worrall had an excellent chance to put Rangers ahead but he headed wide from inside the six-yard box from Halliday’s corner. Defoe then missed a fantastic opportunity after McCrorie had robbed Youssouf Mulumbu and played him clean through. That was as close as Rangers came.
Kilmarnock did well to hold Rangers and both sides now will have to fight all over again at Ibrox to book a place in the next round of the Scottish Cup.
Read more: Jermain Defoe can pacify Alfredo Morales at Rangers says Mark Warburton
Frustrated with the team’s performance as well as the result, here’s how some Rangers fans reacted on Twitter.
Worrall isn’t very good is he
— ᒪᎥᗩᗰ (@LiamWATP) February 9, 2019
Most incosistant Rangers side I can ever remember. A wee run of 3 or 4 wins would be like a blessing
— David Thomson (@Dov1978) February 9, 2019
Amazing how many people get upset at a replay even though it benefits us cos we are now at home 😂🤷🏻♂️ 🔴⚪️🔵
— SMITHY 🇬🇧🏴 (@smithycrs92) February 9, 2019
One of the worst games I’ve ever seen. At least we didn’t lose.
— Ryan Stewart (@Razged1990) February 9, 2019
Try having a shot at goal once in a while @RangersFC 🤷🏻♂️🙏🏻🇬🇧
— houstontrueblue (@houstontrueblue) February 9, 2019
Terrible
— Jason Russell (@JRussell1690) February 9, 2019
Awful game, didn’t want a replay, but no team deserved to win that. The gaffer still hasn’t worked out how to break that mob down, and that’s worrying as we still have two league games against them as well.
— J.R.Hartley (@Sybillyons17) February 9, 2019
And we believe we can challenge Celtic for the title!! It pains me to say this but Celtic are night and day in quality that’s easy to see
— Alfredooooooo (@RFC54WATP1) February 9, 2019