Rangers draw with Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock 1, Rangers 1 (result)

A late equaliser from Kilmarnock substitute Andy McLaren ensured that Rangers were once again trailing in the Scottish Premier League championship race.

The competition may be just 90 mminutes and a single game old but Celtic’s 2-1 win over Dunfermline has already handed them an advantage that they are already more than familiar with.

It is now more than two years since Rangers topped the table for even a week and their pursuit of their rivals soon become a distant one for the past two seasons.

Rangers had looked like taking all three points, courtesy of Shota Arveladze’s first half opener, but the intervention of McLaren, who had been booed by the Rangers fans, proved to be their undoing.

It is not unusual for opening day games to see debutants sweating hard in an attempt to impress and that was certainly the case with Rangers’ £6million signing from Barcelona, Mikel Arteta.

But the young Spaniard found his initial efforts came to little and retreated into his shell as the game wore on.

Arteta had been guilty of losing possession to put his side in trouble on the quarter hour mark when another debutant, Killie’s Gary McSwegan, let fly from distance.

Goalkeeper Stefan Klos was required to launch himself into the air to make a flying parry.

Rangers had already established a foothold on the game by this point however and a gradual increase of the pressure led to the opening goal.

Killie had already survived a scare when their uncertainty when faced with an Arteta corner almost cost them when de Boer headed a misguided Barry Ferguson shot back into the danger zone.

On that occasion Killie keeper Gordon Marshall was able to make a smart stop from Peter Lovenkrands but the next time Killie were all at sea from an Arteta flag kick it cost them.

Arguably - and Killie certainly did that - it shouldn’t have been given in the first place as Lovenkrands had appeared to have supplied the final touch in front of one set of away fans behind a goal.

But awarded it was and when Killie failed twice to get the ball away de Boer was there again to nod the ball into the home side’s most exposed area.

Not a challenger was in sight when Arveladze arrived to head past the exposed Marshall with ease.

McSwegan fired narrowly over from distance once more before Ferguson forced Marshall into a replica save of the earlier one from Klos at the other end.

Killie were angry at being behind and the home fans berated referee Kenny Clark at the break.

But the home side were also fortunate not to be a man down with more than an hour to play after midfielder Alan Mahood, who had been booked for tripping de Boer, then went in two-footed on Arthur Numan.

The first half was also notable for Lorenzo Amoruso’s first inaccurate free-kick of the season, another crossbar clearer, although Ferguson was also guilty of planting one from an even better position harmlessly into the wall.

Marshall made an impressive tip over soon after the re-start after Arteta’s ball over the top had allowed Lovenkrands to fire in a powerful, early shot after the flag had stayed down.

Ferguson played a one-two with Fernando Ricksen to get behind the home defence but although the away fans behind the goal claimed there had been skullduggery in the way his cutback attempt was deflected on to Marshall’s feet, play continued.

Marshall was having a great game and saved his side again with another good block with his legs, this time to deny Arveladze from a wide position inside the box.

But Killie manager Jim Jefferies made an inspired substitution in the 64th minute when he introduced McLaren for Craig Dargo and one of his first contributions was a foot up on Amoruso.

The Italian collapsed to the ground clutching his head and Clark was once again called upon to intervene, with a free-kick to Rangers being the only result.

But McLaren’s next contribution was even more of a blow to Rangers as he gleefully volleyed in his side’s equaliser.

Garry Hay floated over a corner and Klos, who was under severe pressure from challengers on his line, could only punch the ball to McLaren some 10 yards in front of goal and the former Scotland cap made no mistake with his volley.

The situation was so desperate for Rangers that £12m bench-warmer Tore Andre Flo was sent on in search of a breakthrough.

But although Arveladze and Lovenkrands came close with headers it never looked like materialising and the match ended with the Killie fans telling their rivals they would once again miss out on the championship come May.