It was two steps forward, two steps back as Rangers threw away the chance to start sneaking up on Celtic.
But Ben Davies reckons yesterday’s Old Firm stalemate is proof Rangers are only heading in the right direction under Michael Beale. The new Ibrox boss is still searching for a complete performance that stretches from first minute until last. For a while, it looked like he might only need one lasting 45-minutes to cut the nine-point title deficit and renew hope amongst his squad that the title race is back on.
Gers were off the pace and in danger of losing touch with their derby rivals as Daizen Maeda’s fifth-minute strike threatened to push the Hoops 12 points ahead in the Premiership. It took a half-time finger-wagging from Beale, though, to remind Rangers of the heights they are capable of hitting. Those words had the desired effect and within seven minutes of returning for the second half, Beale’s resurgent Rangers were ahead thanks to goals from Ryan Kent and skipper James Tavernier.
But it remains as you were in the title race, though, after Kyogo Furuhashi’s late leveller robbed Beale of a debut derby win as boss. But Davies says Rangers have shown they’ll be no more backward steps at Ibrox.
He said: “Since the manager has come in he’s made it clear we’re going in one direction and that’s forward. We’re not going to stand off anyone and we’re going to show who Rangers are.
“He wants to take us back to some of the performances the boys put in before (when he was here previously with Steven Gerrard). That’s what we’re trying to do going forward.
“The title race is the same as before the game. We had a chance to cut the gap and that would have been good but there is still a long way to go.
“We still have to play them again and there are a lot of games coming thick and fast. It’s the same as it was before – no closer, no further.”
A game of two halves, it was almost as if Rangers had Gio van Bronckhorst in charge for the first period and Steven Gerrard taking control for the second.
It’s Beale’s job now to drag up the performance levels that got his Dutch predecessor the sack and rediscover the standards that helped he and Gerrard end the club’s long wait fort a title 18 months ago.
The early signs offer some promise with the Londoner unbeaten five games in – and the players certainly seem to be taking on board what he’s saying if the half-time turnaround is anything to go by.
Davies admitted: “We struggled a little bit to get going. Not in terms of desire but to get our passing going, then towards the end of the first half we started to get a bit more territory and to play around their box a bit more.
“At half-time, the manager sat us down and put that belief in us that we could go out and perform better. We turned it around within five or six minutes of the second half which is really pleasing.
“We’re all disappointed that we didn’t get the win but I do think there’s signs that we’re going in the right direction. The belief was there from the start but it’s an Old Firm and it’s hard to get your passes together and get your foot in the game.
"The way that we started the second half was absolutely terrific and we showed what we can do. When you get to that late in the game and you’re winning, obviously that’s why we’re disappointed.
“But we showed signs going forward that we’re going in the right direction. You can tell we’ve got some real quality players who can hurt any team and we showed that at times today.
"The manager put the belief in us. He just sat us down and said that we can do a lot better than we’re showing but we were together when we went into the dressing room, we were on the same page.
“Inside us, we all believed we could turn the game around – and we did that fairly quickly. But we’re just disappointed we didn’t see it through when we were that close.”
Beale had urged his side to cut out the unforced errors that saw them dice with disaster against Motherwell last week. But it was another self-inflicted blunder from Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier that gifted Maeda the opener.
Things turned on their head after the break, though, as Fashion Sakala led the fightback, setting up Kent’s goal and winning the penalty which Tavernier tucked away.
But as Rangers retreated in the final stages, Celtic sensed their chance and Kyogo was the man to break blue hearts with the equaliser. Davies added: “Both goals were disappointing.
"Particularly the first one, coming so early in the game. We played a square ball across the pitch and he danced through a couple, which is disappointing for us.
“But we have gone goals down in games before this year. I think we used that experience to help up get back in this
game today.”
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