Max Aarons scores a late winner for RangersImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Max Aarons' late winner was his first goal for Rangers

At a glance

  • Rangers secure first league win of the season in their sixth game

  • Aarons scores in 94th minute to beat Livingston side who looked set for point after Sylla equaliser

  • Tavernier has penalty saved after volleying in opener in dominant first half

Rangers found a dramatic stoppage-time winner to finally secure their first Scottish Premiership win of the season at the sixth attempt, with substitute Max Aarons' late strike enough to down Livingston.

Russell Martin's struggling side were perilously close to the longest winless streak in their history before Aarons found the net in the 94th minute, lashing home a loose ball to send Rangers fans tumbling on to the pitch in celebration.

James Tavernier had put the Ibrox side ahead in the first half with a hooked volley from close range, and it was a deserved lead given their dominance at that stage.

Rangers even had the chance to double that advantage when Nico Raskin had his shirt pulled at the corner, and a penalty was awarded after a VAR check. Tavernier stepped up, but his effort was saved by the legs of Jerome Prior.

They very nearly rued that mistake. Unable to pull away from their hosts - they had a second by Derek Cornelius ruled out before the break - Martin's side gradually lost the ascendancy as Livingston came back into it.

And they conceded an ugly equaliser in the 67th minute when Mo Sylla headed in unchallenged from an Adam Montgomery cross.

Rangers, in desperation, poured forward at the end looking for a winner, and found it through maligned summer signing Aarons, who seized upon a loose ball from a corner to ram his first goal for the club past Prior.

Analysis: Martin breaks duck as script finally changes

Watching both halves of this game was like watching three different teams play football.

There was the dogged and brave Livingston, who battled throughout and will feel aggrieved to finsh with nothing after 90 minutes full of grit and determination.

In the first half, there was a solid Rangers, a side that had weathered an early storm and used their quality to force an opener. They looked the better team, and it seemed a matter of time until the second came.

It didn't come for a long, long time, though. Derek Cornelius' effort was chalked off after a handball, but the Canadian defender also seemed offside.

That decision, and Tavernier's missed penalty, left the door ajar for Livingston and they burst it down in the second half.

In the second half, that same Rangers side went from comfortable to creaky, and all that had changed was the direction in which they were shooting.

Livingston dominated the attacking stats after the break and had been steadily ratcheting up the pressure before their goal finally came.

When it went in, boos and jeers rained down towards the Rangers bench, as Martin began cut an beleaguered figure. He's had this movie on repeat for a while.

That movie wasn't Groundhog Day, though. This time, it ended with Aarons slamming in a winner.

Graphic

What they said

Livingston manager David Martindale: "I genuinely came to this thinking we could take something from the game because I know what I've got in the changing room.

"It is a learning curve as a group. This is a new team that's just come up from the Championship, I've got two 20-year-old midfielders and I don't think there will be any other team that have that profile of players.

"I thought it was one of our better performances we've had against Rangers in the last seven years and I think we're hard done by not to come away with something."

Rangers head coach Russell Martin: "I'm really proud of the players. The game should have been done. We gave away a really poor goal because we lost control of the game in the second half and struggled to get it back.

"The players are fighting so hard for each other and the coaching staff and I think we got what we deserved in the end. The players feel so together.

"The gap between the first half and the second half is too big, so we need to learn from that, but I really enjoyed some of the first half and I loved the character and spirit in the second."

Media caption,

Martin on stepping back from Rangers' post-match celebrations

What next for these teams?

Rangers are back in action in the Europa League on Thursday, when they travel to face Sturm Graz (20:00 BST). Then they will visit Falkirk on Sunday (15:00)

Livingston visit Dundee United in the Premiership on Saturday (15:00).

Player of the match

Number: 24 M. Sylla
Average rating 6.82
Number: 24 M. Sylla
Average Rating: 6.82
Number: 28 J. Prior
Average Rating: 6.72
Number: 17 S. May
Average Rating: 6.40
Number: 3 A. Montgomery
Average Rating: 6.06
Number: 15 L. Smith
Average Rating: 6.03
Number: 7 Mahamadou Susoho
Average Rating: 5.97
Number: 25 M. Tait
Average Rating: 5.97
Number: 27 D. Wilson
Average Rating: 5.92
Number: 16 A. Winter
Average Rating: 5.82
Number: 8 S. Pittman
Average Rating: 5.82
Number: 19 D. Finlayson
Average Rating: 5.76
Number: 4 S. Blaney
Average Rating: 5.55
Number: 18 J. Bokila
Average Rating: 5.00
Number: 11 C. McLennan
Average Rating: 5.00
Number: 10 G. Carey
Average Rating: 4.73
Number: 39 T. Yengi
Average Rating: 4.60

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.