Newcastle beat Rangers in Allan McGregor testimonial

Harrison Ashby’s 87th-minute header gave Newcastle a 2-1 win over Rangers in Allan McGregor’s testimonial match at a packed Ibrox.

McGregor, 41, who departed the Light Blues at the end of the season after two spells at the Govan club, was in goal, with new signings Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima starting.

Eddie Howe’s side, with new signing from AC Milan, midfielder Sandro Tonali, in their line-up, took the lead in the 16th minute when Elliot Anderson slipped in Miguel Almiron, who steered the ball low past McGregor.

The former Scotland goalkeeper made way for debutant Jack Butland after 38 minutes after Rangers had created and missed a couple of chances.

Newcastle, the more assured in the first 45 minutes, made a host of changes for the start of the second half and they continued to control the game as both sides threw more replacements on.

In the 64th minute Dutch attacker Lammers, signed from Italian side Atalanta, intercepted a slack pass from keeper Karl Darlow to Bruno Guimaraes and netted an unexpected leveller.

Rangers finished the game strongly but, with three minutes remaining, two more Newcastle substitutes made an impact as Scotland under-21 defender Ashby leapt to head a cross from Alex Isak over Butland for the winner.