Why Rangers struggled to create against Kilmarnock's 'around the block' challenge

“No doubt Rangers deserved to win but I thought 2-0 and the second goal was a bit harsh on us,” he commented, referencing a tactical change he made prior to Alfredo Morelos’ late goal, which saw his side open up in search of an equaliser.

And while Rangers exuded total control throughout yesterday’s tie, they failed to open up the visitors and create high-quality opportunities. The xG (expected goals) stood 0.91 to 0.36 in the hosts’ favour at the time of Morelos' 88th-minute goal. As demonstrated by the below trendline, the visitors conceded few clear-cut chances prior to the late second.

Admittedly, the only meaningful attacking moment Kilmarnock created was Rory Mackenzie’s effort from a cut-back, that flew over the bar.

However, visiting keeper Sam Walker faced just five shots on target, only three of which boasted an xG value superior to 0.1.

Eight of those attempts were taken from outside the penalty box and only three came within 12-yards of goal.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst said “we’ve played many games like this before” post-match, referencing the broadly-defined low-block his side are often tasked with dismantling domestically. And while that is true, based on yesterday’s activity in front of goal and last weekend’s trip to Livingston, Rangers will need to create more consistently to keep the wins coming.

Kilmarnock’s approach yesterday posed differences and similarities to that of Livingston’s a week ago.

Livingston, with an early lead to protect, quite literally camped in their box. As demonstrated by their pressure map, they played with a low line and marked up man-for-man.

Whereas yesterday afternoon, Kilmarnock applied pressure higher up the pitch at points.

And rather than man-mark after falling into a deep block, the visitors lined up in a narrow 4-3-3.

Meaning that they tried to always make sure they had superior or even numbers around the ball.

Irrespective of their line of engagement, Kilmarnock like Livingston attempted to funnel play wide and block the middle of the pitch. 

Rangers started with wide full-backs instead of wingers against the newly-promoted side and as a result, their occupation of these wide areas was less threatening than last weekend, when Ryan Kent made the difference from the left.

Although crosses didn’t reign in relentlessly, elements of the performance were resemblant of Steven Gerrard’s worst games at the club, when opponents managed to busy the centre and show possession to either full-back.

“While Rangers had a lot of possession, I thought we made them play around us a lot,” McInnes commented after the game.

A passage of play just before the interval summed up much of the afternoon.

Below, Kilmarnock have overloaded the ball side, congesting space to prevent central overloads. As a result, the Rangers left-hand side is left free.

On this occasion, Rangers can play through the middle of their opponent thanks to Malik Tillman, who takes the ball in and outplays his marker before finding Tom Lawrence. 

Ridvan Yilmaz’s intelligent run opens up the left channel for John Lundstram to exploit.

However, Lawrence perhaps unaware of Yilmaz’s movement lays the ball into Lundstram instead of playing a ball in behind. 

The midfielder has to chop back inside instead of attacking the wide spaces. The ball is worked back centrally to Steven Davis who attempts a shot.

As he does so, all 10 Kilmarnock outfielders are incredibly compact. Throughout, Rangers didn't stretch the pitch enough to decongest the centre and exploit space out wide.

The passes completed by van Bronckhorst’s side in the Kilmarnock half shows some success in accessing central spaces, as well as the passes ‘around’ the opposition that McInness referenced. 

Most of what Rangers did well came through Tillman, who was able to create separation from his marker and move the ball forwards. He got on the ball in central pockets, as shown by his pass receptions map below.

Again, this was true of last weekend’s trip to Livingston. However, without Kent yesterday and given Rabbi Matondo was starting from the bench, van Bronckhorst's side lacked the wide threat to stretch Kilmarnock and capitalise on the space they sacrificed out wide.

James Tavernier and Yilmaz were normally the widest players, and as full-backs, didn’t offer the one-v-one threat of wingers. The 0-60 minute team-wide carry map features a lack of attempted dribbles in the wide areas where space was afforded.

Whereas Matondo made 10 carries in his short 25-minute spell on the park, four of which were progressive and one of which lead to Morelos’ second.

The Ibrox side did achieve some joy going through the middle, Lawrence performed well in the pockets while Tillman stood out. No attendee could argue against the fact that Rangers totally controlled the match.

Furthermore, while van Bronckhorst's side relied on two transitions to score, they had the central bodies available to capitalise in both moments. 

However, there's no escaping the fact that his team struggled to create chances against Kilmarnock based on the underlying numbers. Although they did make it through the block, they failed to capitalise on the opportunities to also go around in search of opportunity.