THE four strikers that Steven Gerrard has to choose from this season will give the Rangers boss plenty of selection issues in the coming months. It was his main man that solved the most pressing problem at Ibrox.

Amid the fanfare around the goals from Kemar Roofe and Jermain Defoe in recent days, Alfredo Morelos has operated largely in the shadows. The headlines and the plaudits will deservedly be his once again, though, after this victory over Lech Poznan.

Just six minutes after he stepped off the bench at Ibrox, he wrote his name in the history books. This strike was his 21st in European competition for Rangers and the achievement of Ally McCoist will now surely be surpassed in the coming weeks.

The Colombian played such an integral part in helping Gerrard’s side reach the last 16 of this competition last term. This goal has now put them in a promising position this time around as Rangers followed up on their win over Standard Liege with victory that puts them level on points with Benfica.

This wasn’t Rangers at their finest, but they found a way to win once again and the momentum that has been built domestically and in Europe wasn’t dented. It must now be enhanced once again when they head to Kilmarnock this weekend.

Lech arrived in Glasgow on the back of an indifferent run domestically and a 4-2 defeat to Benfica in their Group D opener, but Gerrard had warned of the dangers that they could pose here. He described their match with Benfica as being like a basketball game, yet this encounter wasn’t quite as open and expansive as perhaps was expected.

The visitors still gave as good as they got, though, and there was nothing to separate the sides at the end of a goalless first half. Rangers hadn’t been at their best, but Poznan had proven that they would be no pushovers.

Gerrard’s side saw plenty of the ball and got themselves into promising positions but that final piece of the jigsaw was missing in an attacking sense as Lech disrupted their rhythm and stood firm while the rain poured down on an empty Ibrox.

The nights against the likes of Rapid Vienna, Legia, Feyenoord and Braga from the last couple of seasons will live long in the memory and this just didn’t have that special feeling that matches under the floodlights should stir up.

Rangers needed to provide their own spark but were uncharacteristically flat for sustained spells. There were moments of encouragement, but Rangers couldn’t break the deadlock before the interval and, when it mattered most, they just weren’t crisp or clinical enough.

It was only half chances that they would carve out. Scott Arfield fired a shot straight at keeper Filip Bednarek, while Steven Davis had two chances as an effort from the edge of the area was blocked and the follow-up was wasted.

There was almost another spectacular goal from Roofe but the striker couldn’t follow up his wonder strike against Standard with an acrobatic effort here. He should have done better when Borna Barisic put in a cross from the left but Roofe salvaged the situation and an overhead kick was just wide of Bednarek’s post.

Thankfully for Rangers, a couple of efforts at the other end met the same fate. Daniel Ramirez had curled a shot beyond Allan McGregor after just six minutes and Jakub Moder and Mikael Ishak would also come close. McGregor was largely unworked, but Lech looked enough of a threat in the final third to remind Rangers that they would have to raise their levels after the break if they were make it two from two in Group D.

Thankfully for Rangers, Alan Czerwiński’s cross from the right was just too far in front of Michał Skóraś as promising opening came to nothing for Lech, while Thomas Rogne glanced a header wide a couple of minutes later. They may have just nine points from seven Ekstraklasa fixtures, but Poznan were proving that they will have a say in this section.

A drive from Arfield that whistled just wide of target was as close as Rangers would come before the hour mark and Gerrard had to make a change. Roofe was the one that made way as Morelos was tasked – as he has been so often - with winning the game for Rangers.

Within minutes, he had put them in front. The cross from Barisic was pinpoint and the header from Morelos had power and precision as a combination that has served Rangers so well on so many occasions proved decisive once again.

This wasn’t a night that will be fondly recalled in years to come but it will be a special one for Morelos. And it could be a significant one for Rangers as they set their sights on the knockout rounds this term.