Rangers 2-1 Greenock Morton: Much-changed make hard work of second-tier visitors

Danilo came off the bench to fire Rangers to a hard-fought comeback victory

Much-changed Rangers made hard work of dispatching second-tier Greenock Morton to book a Viaplay Cup quarter-final place for an eighth straight season.

Michael Beale made eight switches to his side after Tuesday’s European success over Servette, but the Ibrox hosts suffered from the same lack of fluidity as the Championship visitors took a shock second-half lead through a Grant Gillespie penalty.

That moment served as a wake-up call for the home side, who equalised through Cyriel Dessers’ spot kick – also awarded after a VAR review – seven minutes later before substitute Danilo fired in the winner.

Rangers failed to add gloss to the hard-fought victory as Ianis Hagi and Abdallah Sima, who also headed off the bar, were denied by inspired visiting keeper Jamie MacDonald.

Backed by a healthy away crowd, Morton forced Jack Butland into action with a Robbie Muirhead free-kick, and Robbie Crawford failed to make the most of a one-on-one opportunity, before Dessers’ foul on Kirk Broadfoot allowed Gillespie to convert from the spot.

The second-tier side could have also grabbed an injury-time equaliser, but debutant Johnly Yfeko’s last-ditch tackle on George Oakley was followed by former Rangers defender Broadfoot poking over the bar.

But Broadfoot’s tug on Leon Balogun, who had just smashed a volley off a post, allowed Dessers to slot a quickfire equaliser for Beale’s side, who were uninspiring for the majority of the first hour until the introduction of Danilo, Hagi and Sima.

Dessers thought he had opened the scoring in the after rounding MacDonald, who pulled off fine first-half saves to thwart Rabbi Matondo and Kieran Dowell, but the striker was penalised for a soft foul on O’Connor – a decision that couldn’t be reviewed as the referee had blown.

Beale, whose side were far from convincing again, will be given leeway while his new-look team gels, but questions of his summer recruitment will not go anywhere until performances improve on a more consistent basis.

Player of the match – Jamie MacDonald

The veteran keeper’s stellar display gave Morton every chance of earning a memorable result