RANGERS supporters made their way to Fir Park yesterday hoping to see some genuine progress a month after Progres.

What they witnessed would have given them encouragement that at the very least this team is a marked upgrade on last season and that awful night in Luxembourg may turn out to be a one-off. We shall see.

They still can’t defend cross balls which is why nobody is fooled tat there isn't a lot of work to be done.

Motherwell played well themselves, in fact it was a cracking match, and were unfortunate and silly not get themselves an equaliser late on. No defeat is a good thing but the Lanarkshire men can take a lot of positives from a match they lost because Louis Moult gave away a ridiculous penalty.

Make no mistake, Pedro Caixinha needed this result and performance, albeit his side were miles from perfect, on his team’s first Premiership game.

And in Graham Dorrans, who scored both goals, Rangers finally have a midfielder of real quality. The fan turned player was way above the rest.

But Caixinha will be concerned by the amount of times Motherwell cut their way through the middle of the park and on the wings. Some things haven’t changed.

However, it took four minutes for Rangers to show their fans that not everything was the same.

From a free-kick in midfield, Daniel Candeias sent the ball towards the back post, via the head of Motherwell defender Ben Heneghan, where Alves had more time than he should be allowed.

He crossed for Kenny Miller whose lovely first touch picked out Dorrans and his first time effort beat Motherwell keeper Trevor Carson and the despairing Heneghan on the line.

So far, so more than good for Caixinha. His team were dominant, moved the ball about quickly and the energy so missing in Luxembourg was there in bucket loads.

Windass put a shot over on ten minutes from ten yards, he ought to have done better, and the Englishman had another crack with an effort which flew wide.

The home side took a while before they got going but when they did, on 18 minutes, they missed a sitter.

For all that Rangers were impressive going forward, that defence were less solid and was carved open by Carl McHugh and Chris Cadden.

The latter saw Moult was in space inside the box and sent the ball all the way to him, taking out defenders and Rangers keeper Wes Foderingham, only for the striker to fluff his lines from close range. He didn't have a great day.

Within 90 seconds, Moult and Craig Tanner ripped open the centre of Rangers' defence with some great passing and only a smart play from Fabio Cardoso who got himself in the way to prevent a goal.

And as the game approached the 20 minute mark, Windass took the ball for a 50 yard run past three players and his slightly deflected shot hit the post. There was no time to pause for breath.

On the half hour, Lee Wallace made a great run which was picked out by terrific Daniel Candeias pass, the captain’s shot fizzed across the Motherwell goal. Then at the other end, Andy Rose’s cutback was missed by Tanner by half a stud.

It was wonderfully entertaining stuff and the day got better for Motherwell on 40 minutes.

Alves conceded a free-kick for a clumsy tackle on Moult, the set-piece was taken by Tanner who sent the ball into an area Rangers haven’t looked good for a long time and Heneghan was too strong for the rest and headed in the equaliser.

Rangers's reaction came through Windass, having a storming match, but for the second time he saw a well-executed shot rattle the crossbar.

The second-half began with the game’s first booking when Motherwell defender Cedric Kipre was penalised for a tackle on Candeias. He could consider himself hard done by.

And that yellow card was why he thought twice on 51 minutes of fouling the same Rangers player as the Portuguese hit the touchline then pulled the ball back into a dangerous area and Miller of all people sent a wild shot over.

Rangers, however, were back in front seven minutes later.

A corner was cleared back to Candeias, he sent in a second cross and Moult for reasons best known to himself led with his elbow as he challenged Fabio Cardoso for the ball which was spotted by referee Bobby Madden.

The Motherwell striker was booked, it could have been red, and Dorrans confidently stepped up and sent the ball into the net.

But, my goodness, the home side had more than enough chances to equalise. On 74 minutes, a Cadden cross was met by Ryan Bowman whose deft touch sent the ball no more than an inch wide.

And with four minutes to go, a high ball into the Rangers box wasn’t dealt with, it broke to Alex Fisher who had a clear shot at goal, only for Foderingham to bring off a superb save.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Tanner on the counter-attack charged at a retreating Rangers defence, he had two team-mates to pass to but chose to go on his own which was the only thing he shouldn't have done.

Rangers were hanging on at the end but had showed a lot more than perhaps their own support expected. As for Motherwell, if this is what they can do then they should be okay.