Alex McLeish was denied victory in his first match as Rangers manager by a prime example of the indiscipline that had sent the Dick Advocaat era to a premature doom.

Fernando Ricksen's needless conceding of an 80th-minute penalty allowed David Kelly to earn Motherwell a 2-2 draw at Fir Park.

The result puts Rangers even further behind Celtic in a championship 'race' that could soon be decided in record early time.

McLeish, who was without Lorenzo Amoruso because of suspension, will have to do without Craig Moore next week after he was sent off in stoppage time.

It had looked as though Rangers were destined to take all three points thanks to Neil McCann's freak goal straight from a corner, which added to Shota Arveladze's equaliser that had cancelled out Keith Lasley's memorable opener for the home side.

McLeish had watched his new charges from the Ibrox stands on Wednesday and saw them waste a hatful of chances in a 1-1 draw with Hibernian, the club he had just left.

And it was deja vu from the start at Fir Park, the ground where McLeish had begun his managerial career.

The first miss came before 60 seconds had elapsed when McCann, an impressive substitute in midweek, beat his man to cross from the left.

Ronald de Boer was there ahead of his marker but his outstretched leg could only send the ball flying wide.

Three minutes later de Boer set up Russell Latapy for a shot that Greg Strong deflected into the sidenetting and an even better chance arrived in the 10th minute.

It was an example of the way Rangers can open up a defence with quick, accurate short passing and Barry Ferguson, de Boer and Arveladze were all involved.

A one-two with de Boer gave Arveladze a sight of both posts but instantly he missed his kick and the chance was gone.

And just as Paco Luna had done on Wednesday night, the opposition's reply was the opening goal.

Lasley was the man who netted it and he couldn't have converted it any more impressively.

Free kicks were a commonplace throughout the first half, with bodies littered across the pitch at regular intervals and it was from a set piece that Well struck.

Steven Hammell supplied a diagonal ball into the box where Karl Ready won a header on the edge of the area to find Stuart Elliott with his back to goal in the danger zone.

Bert Konterman was challenging but Elliott held him off to lay the ball back for Lasley to thump a rising shot past the helpless Stefan Klos.

Well almost doubled their lead straight after when Hammell's pacy, low ball from the left allowed David Kelly to get in behind the Rangers rearguard but the ageing predator's first-time effort cannoned back into play off Klos' chest.

Arveladze forced Mark Brown, the former Rangers goalkeeper, into a save off his near post in the 35th minute and three minutes later poached his side's first goal under the new regime.

Ricksen supplied the cross from the right and McCann was there in the box challenging for it. The ball broke to Arveladze just a few feet away and the Georgian poked it into the net from a semi-prone position before Ready could intervene.

Rangers made a change at the break, swapping Latapy for the youngster Stephen Hughes but the next 15 minutes or so produced little in the way of memorable football, with Rangers enjoying the majority of the possession but making little use of it.

It took a freak goal in the 63rd minute to jolt the match out of its torpor and McCann was the man who supplied it direct from a corner.

De Boer had gone up for it at the near post and he received plenty of congratulations from his team-mates afterwards but it was unclear whether the ball had touched his head.

Lasley tried to stop it from crossing the line but succeeded only in booting it high into the net.

Rangers had come back from a goal down to win here last season but this time the script was a little different and in the 80th minute Kelly equalised from the spot.

Ricksen had been the culprit, using an arm needlessly to control James McFadden's cross from the left when there was no challenger there.

Kelly's penalty was a woolly one but although Klos managed to get a hand to it the ball crept over the line.

Konterman almost produced an instant reply with a fearsome long-ranger that thudded off Brown's right-hand upright and back into play.

But Well also had the scent of victory in their nostrils and when McFadden set Lasley up for a shot Klos had to leap to tip it over.

Rangers almost snatched it two minutes from time when a Konterman shot from a free kick move fizzed past the wall only to be blocked by Brown.

Moore was sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence of clattering Lasley in the centre circle.

Tore Andre Flo had been missing from the Rangers line-up because of a groin problem.

Teams

Motherwell: Brown, Ready, Deloumeaux, Strong, Hammell, Lasley (Pearson 90), Leitch, Soloy (Corrigan 69), McFadden, Kelly, Elliott.

Subs Not Used: Dow, Adams, Woods.

Booked: Kelly, McFadden, Corrigan, Leitch.

Goals: Lasley 16, Kelly 80 pen.

Rangers: Klos, Ricksen, Moore, Vidmar, Numan, Konterman, Latapy (Hughes 45), Ferguson, McCann, de Boer, Arveladze (Caniggia 87).

Subs Not Used: Dodds, Ross, Christiansen.

Sent Off: Moore (90).

Booked: Moore, Ricksen.

Goals: Arveladze 38, de Boer 63.

Att: 9,894

Ref: W Young (Scotland).