Kenny Miller and Emerson Hyndman give Rangers victory at Motherwell

Kenny Miller helped Rangers to victory over Motherwell for the second week running as Mark Warburton’s side reclaimed second spot from Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

The striker, whose late double killed off Motherwell in the Scottish Cup, put Rangers in front before the midfielder Emerson Hyndman marked his first start for the Ibrox side with a goal that finished off Motherwell three minutes from time.

Drama preceded the eventful finale, with both sides finishing a man down after the Rangers winger Michael O’Halloran and Motherwell forward Scott McDonald saw red for dangerous tackles during a feisty first half. Defeat denied Motherwell the chance to claim a place in the top six.

O’Halloran has cut a frustrated figure after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by. He did himself no favours with a reckless challenge on Carl McHugh with five minutes gone. O’Halloran caught McHugh high up on the thigh as they went after a bouncing ball, and the referee, Willie Collum, brandished a red card.

The dismissal rattled Rangers but Motherwell failed to capitalise. Craig Clay fired wide after Andy Halliday lost possession outside his box, while McDonald twice failed to get a toe to a pair of teasing Chris Cadden deliveries.

Rangers were lucky they did not lose another man after 11 minutes when Rob Kiernan flew in late on Stevie Hammell. The centre-back escaped with a booking.

Collum did reach for red after 26 minutes and, like O’Halloran, McDonald had only himself to blame. The Australian seemed in no danger as he gathered the ball on the halfway line, but when he took his eye off the ball it gave Miller the chance to nick in and steal possession. McDonald tried to react but his challenge was poorly timed, catching the Rangers striker on the ankle.

With the numbers evened up, Rangers were able to build some pressure. Hyndman saw a shot parried away by Craig Samson before he teed up Miller, who was denied by another decent save.

Rangers continued to push in the second half, with Lee Wallace beating Samson after a perfect pass from Miller – only for a combination of Stephen McManus and Hammell to clear off the line. At the other end, Motherwell’s Louis Moult clipped a shot over Wes Foderingham’s bar.

Samson was increasingly the busier goalkeeper as he was forced to turn away a Halliday strike and Jon Toral’s deft header. There was nothing he could do, though, when Rangers went ahead.

Hyndman, who created last week’s winner, was the architect again with a sublime pass in behind the home defence for Lee Wallace. The captain could have shot but unselfishly squared the ball across goal. Martyn Waghorn made a mess of his finish but Miller made sure as he rammed home from three yards out.

The 20-year-old Hyndman, on-loan from Bournemouth, capped his full debut with a clinical finish after Josh Windass burst forward from midfield.

“I thought for four or five minutes after the sending-off we lost our composure and gave the ball away cheaply. But we quickly regained it,” Warburton said. “We had good passages of play. The midfield three were finding blue shirts and once it evened up I thought we dominated.

“We spoke at half-time about being braver, breaking lines, testing the keeper. Second half we were very dominant, I don’t think Wes Foderingham had a save to make while we got the rewards. I thought it was a good victory.”

The Motherwell manager, Mark McGhee, said: “We had good spirit, good energy, but with 10 men we never created any real chances. I’m optimistic, though, that we’ve got the strongest squad we’ve had this season and I think we have a lot to look forward to.”