Rangers beat Motherwell to close on Celtic

GLASGOW: Rangers beat Motherwell 2-0 at a wet and wild Fir Park on Sunday to return to within two points of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.

Kieran Dowell started and finished the move for the opening goal in the fourth minute before fellow midfielder Todd Cantwell doubled the lead 12 minutes later.

The game should have brought more goals, but in a wind-affected encounter the strikes proved enough for Philippe Clement´s men. Rangers are now on 43 points after 18 games -- two behind champions Celtic with a game in hand.

They face Ross County on Wednesday, with a crucial encounter at Celtic Park on December 30 looming large. Clement has gone 16 games unbeaten since taking over from Michael Beale in October.

Rangers took the lead early in the match when Dowell robbed Harry Paton at the edge of the penalty area and played a one-two with Cyriel Dessers before blasting the ball home. The second goal came when left-back Ridvan Yilmaz´s cross into the box was controlled by Abdallah Sima, with Cantwell running in to sweep the ball low past the diving Liam Kelly.

A speculative drive from Callum Slattery that skipped past the Rangers goal was Motherwell´s only real response while the visitors continued to threaten sporadically.