Falkirk suffered a late defeat against Rangers as a Shankland brace was enough to seal a 2-1 win for the Glasgow side at The Falkirk Stadium.
Battling performances from both sides meant the game could have easily went either way on the night.
A strong start from the visitors saw them take an early lead as Djedi Gassama drove down the left flank before picking out Gers’ skipper Lawrence Shankland in the Falkirk box, who fired high into the net to put the visitors ahead after seven minutes.
The early goal gave the visitors a real boost, and they came close to a second as the ball fell kindly to Minsu on the edge of the Falkirk box, the midfielder fashioned room for a shot and curled a low effort towards the bottom corner which crashed off the inside of the post before being cleared.
The opening stages were largely open, and some exciting end-to-end football was on display. Falkirk were definitely enjoying fewer clear opportunities though, despite some good play going forward.
Minsu continued to cause the Falkirk defence problems, drifting in from the left this time before unleashing a strike similar to his first, which forced Bain to make a good save low to his right.
Half-chances continued to come for both sides, but Falkirk were next to find the net as a swift counter allowed Ethan Ross to drive into acres of space down the right, his low cross was steered home by a Rangers defender and the Bairns were back on level terms on the stroke of half time.
A brilliant start to the second half saw a flurry of chances come Falkirk’s way.
The first came for Jacob Murrell as he found himself in a great position in the Rangers box, his close-range effort was straight at Pandur but it set the tone for the next ten minutes as The Bairns continued to push for a second.
Murrell was in the action again moments later, this time it was a looping header which was tipped just over the bar.
Another massive opportunity came just after the hour mark when Murrell cut out a poor pass from a Rangers defender, leaving him one-on-one with Pandur, the keeper pulled off an excellent save, though, keeping the score locked at 1-1.
Rangers first big chance of the second half came after Gassama made a mazy run from deep, he managed to make room for a shot, but his effort rolled wide of the post.
The visitors found a winner with around ten minutes of regular time to play when Ross McCrorie found Shankland in a great position in the box. The striker made no mistake and found the corner from close range for the eventual winner.
Unfortunately, the Bairns were unable to find an equaliser and were forced to settle for nothing as the whistle sounded after four additional minutes.
Falkirk will now prepare for a trip to Tannadice Park as they face Dundee United on Saturday afternoon.
TEAM INFORMATION:
FALKIRK XI: Scott Bain, Leon McCann, Liam Henderson, Brad Spencer (C), Lewis Neilson, Finley Barbrook, Ryan Strain, Ethan Ross, Jacob Murrell, Ben Krauhaus, CJ Fodrey.
BENCH: Nicky Hogarth, Jack McMillan, Coll Donaldson, Ben Parkinson, Ross MacIver, Scott Tanser, Connor Allan, Deniss Melniks, Aodhan Doherty.
RANGERS XI: Ivor Pandur, Lawrence Shankland (C) (7’, 79’), Minsu, Cameron Devlin, Kosta Nedeljkovic (OG 44’), Djedi Gassama, Olwethu Makhanya, James Penrice, Emmanuel Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Nicolas Raskin, Findlay Curtis.
BENCH: Liam Kelly, Ross McCrorie, Ben Godfrey, Daisuke Yokota, Ryan Naderi, Vanja Dragojevic, Bojan Miovski, Tochi Chukwuani, Ross McCausland.
REFEREE: Steven McLean
ATTENDANCE: 6847
Match Report by Robbie Hill
Cover Image by Ruby Adam
