When the dust had settled on Fir Park last night, Rangers will not have liked what they saw at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League — a four-point gap opening up between themselves and Celtic, who beat Kilmarnock at Celtic Park. The fact remains, though, that this was a stirring and absorbing affair in Lanarkshire.

Both these teams contributed richly to the spectacle, with much of Motherwell’s lovely football perfectly summed up by Stephen Hughes’s beautiful lob after 80 minutes, which Allan McGregor tipped over his bar. Had that effort gone in, so even had this game been, you’d have been hard pressed to say Motherwell fully deserved it.

It was a remarkable match, strewn with missed chances at both ends, with Rangers the main culprits. Kenny Miller was back to his old jitteriness in front of goal, and even Kris Boyd, a goal-machine of late, looked rusty inside the area, slicing a shot wide in the dying seconds. But Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, was left raging at a wrongly disallowed Boyd goal midway through the second half and later savaged the match officials.

Barry Ferguson made his first Rangers start for six months since recovering from ankle surgery, and, after all the anxiety expressed by Smith about his readiness to go 90 minutes, Ferguson did just that.

This wasn’t the best of evenings for the returning Rangers captain, though that hardly needs explaining. Whatever else Mark McGhee has given Motherwell, he has introduced a breezy self-confidence to Fir Park. Even in his programme notes last night McGhee was still raging about his side’s 2-0 loss to Celtic at Celtic Park on Saturday. Ordinarily, it didn’t seem such an unexpected result, but the Motherwell manager remained peeved. “I expected us to win that game,” he wrote blithely.

Such conviction has been evident in a lot of Motherwell’s football since McGhee arrived, and his team chirpily set about Rangers, playing tight, crisp passes in midfield and often appearing to out-manoeuvre even players such as Ferguson and Pedro Mendes. Indeed, the home side could count themselves unlucky not to have snatched the lead when Keith Lasley’s low shot was spilt by McGregor and frantically cleared by the Rangers defence.

Rangers had a glorious chance after 28 minutes but poor Miller did what he sometimes does best — he hesitated. Sent clear into the inside-left channel by Boyd’s deft lob, Miller had a clear sight of Graeme Smith’s goal but for some reason chose to check his stride and cut inside, thus allowing a cluster of Motherwell defenders to rob him of possession.

Behind that goal a throng of Rangers fans had their heads in their hands at Miller. At best, the former Celtic striker has had a lukewarm reception from these supporters, not always for admirable reasons. But one other reason for their reservations about Miller was summed up precisely in that moment.

The striker sought to redeem himself moments later, cleverly crossing for Ferguson, whose dream return to action after so long out was denied by Smith’s outstretched leg. The longer this game wore on, the more Motherwell faded and Rangers began to dominate, and Smith again saved his side, this time plucking Miller’s shot from 14 yards out of the air.

Nonetheless, the game had a pulsating ebb and flow to it which captivated the 10,000 crowd inside this stadium — not least those supporting Motherwell.

First, McGregor dived to smother Steven Hammell’s free kick, and then, in the best move of the game, Stephen Hughes and Lasley swept the home side into attack, forcing McGregor to make a fine save from Porter, whose turn and shot from 15 yards had been excellently executed. At the other end, meanwhile, Boyd just failed to reach Steven Davis’s cross with Smith again exposed. The pace of this match was remorseless.

Sasa Papac was carried from the field after a clash of heads with five minutes remaining — it had been a night that lacked nothing.

Smith rages at ‘goal’ error

Walter Smith last night took a swipe at Tom Murphy, the linesman, for disallowing a Kris Boyd goal which could have given Rangers victory at Fir Park.

At the time Boyd’s effort looked well off-side but TV replays showed that it should have stood. Smith was withering over the decision.

“We contrived to miss a lot of chances here tonight but then the one that we did put way through Boyd was wrongly disallowed,” he said. “Mr Murphy was quick to allow an offside Scott McDonald goal at Parkhead last season but quick to disallow that goal tonight.

“That’s two times now that we’ve had such decisions going against us this season — one at Aberdeen and now here. And we’re meant to be the club which doesn’t get decisions against us.”

Mark McGhee, the Motherwell manager, expressed his satisfaction with a point, especially after losing 2-0 to Celtic on Saturday.

“People thought I was a bit hard on my team at Parkhead because we played well, but that was because we still lost,” he said. “And I think the way we played tonight proved my point, in that we showed we can play well and take something from these games. That’s some of the best attacking football we’ve produced all season.”

Motherwell (4-4-2): G Smith — P Quinn, M Reynolds, R Malcolm, S Hammell — S McGarry, K Lasley, S Hughes, M Fitzpatrick — C Porter, J Sutton. Substitutes not used: G Neilson, D Smith, J Murphy, J O’Brien, S Meechan, R McHugh, J Page.

Rangers (4-4-2): A McGregor — K Broadfoot, D Weir, M Bougherra, S Papac (sub: S Whittaker, 81min) — S Davis, P Mendes, B Ferguson, K Lafferty (sub: N Novo, 77) — K Miller, K Boyd. Substitutes not used: N Alexander, M Edu, L McCulloch, R Loy, A Shinnie. Booked: Bougherra.

Referee: S Conroy.