Rangers led 2-0 at home to Motherwell at the start of the second half, but could not narrow the gap on Celtic.
After Bevis Mugabi's own goal, Fashion Sakala smashed in two minutes later.
Motherwell moved up to sixth after Kaiyne Woolery squeezed in an unlikely leveller to earn a point after Jordan Roberts tapped in.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side could reduce the leaders' advantage after Celtic's goalless draw at Hibs on Sunday.
It looked like the reigning champion would grab the opportunity with both hands, but two cheap defending and poor finishing allowed Graham Alexander's men to claim a point.
Rangers bounced into this game with a spring in their step, after Thursday&s win over Dortmund and the news that Celtic had dropped points at Easter Road.
Morelos poked a close-range effort against the bar as the hosts started with a swagger.
The Fir Park side traveled to Govan to try and beat Rangers in the league for the first time in two decades.
The away side looked ominous as Rangers knocked the ball around with pace and purpose in front of a deep visiting backline.
Captain James Tavernier tried to catch Liam Kelly out at his back post with a curling effort that had the keeper at full stretch to tip over.
John Lundstram, who was deployed at centre-back with Connor Goldson, failed to divert a free headed ball.
Kelly bettered his save from Tavernier when he threw himself high to his right to block Lundstram's effort.
The visiting keeper was helpless to the quickfire goals that quickly followed, however, with Ryan Kent's cross diverted off Mugabi into the bottom-right corner.
Sakala scored his fifth goal in three games against the Lanarkshire side after Kent's low ball from the left evaded everyone in the box before falling into his path.
Motherwell's substitution gave Rangers more energy in their attack, as they ended the half with 73% of possession.
Woolery burst down the Rangers right with ease, steaming past Lundstram and drilling a low ball across for Roberts to tap in.
Morelos had a close-range finish ruled out for narrow offside calls and Kent stung the palms of Kelly as Rangers tried to restore their two-goal lead.
Motherwell were always in the game because of the failure to add to their tally, and Alexander's side took their chance to punish the hosts when Woolery somehow managed to keep a hold of the ball and squeeze a finish past Allan McGregor at his near post.
Motherwell had a golden chance to take the lead when the defender passed up a golden opportunity to stab the ball into the net.
The centre-back was in the middle of the action when the block denied Scott Arfield. The rebound fell to Goldson.
Motherwell survived a late scare to earn a fantastic point, despite Rangers screaming for a penalty in the closing stages.
Rangers have not won a game in the league since the start of the year, and with Thursday's momentous European occasion, they were under scrutiny to see if their recent inconsistent league form would continue.
The home crowd was not worried about that becoming five just over a quarter into the game. At half-time, there were signs that the title was swinging back in the direction of the champion.
Two points were thrown away because of a poor second-half showing by Rangers, who have been criticized throughout the season.
With just 13 points gained from a possible 24 on offer in 2022, Van Bronckhorst has to address the mentality issue that is festering in the squad.
Motherwell looked beaten at half-time, but Alexander deserves a lot of credit for his half-time changes.
Their last victory was on Boxing Day and they are still looking for their first win of the year.
Going into back-to-back games at home to Ross County and Dundee, Alexander's men will have huge belief that they can win both of them.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst told Rangers TV that he was very disappointed with the result. You have to keep going into the second half after we started off well.
They are back in the game after one goal. The third goal is gone if we score it. We need to get back to being ruthless defensively.
Graham Alexander is the manager of Motherwell. I don't think anyone would have thought we would get anything at half-time.
We showed great spirit and togetherness to get back into the game with two goals. The boys put their bodies on the line to defend us.
Motherwell and Ross County will play each other on Wednesday while Rangers travel to St Johnstone.
Formation 4-3-3.
2Tavernier6Goldson4Lundstram3Bassey37Arfield18Kamara17Ayodele-AriboFormation 4-3-3.
2O'Donnell5Mugabi4Lamie3Carroll18Cornelius8O'Hara22Donnelly7Woolery20Efford26TierneyRangers and Motherwell played a match.
Rangers and Motherwell played each other in the second half.
Motherwell, substitution. Kaiyne Woolery was replaced by Juhani Ojala.
An attempt was missed. The left footed shot by Joe Ayodele-Aribo was wide to the left. Scott Arfield assisted.
The attempt was blocked. The left-footed shot from the centre of the box by Alfredo Morelos is blocked.
The attempt was blocked. Scott Arfield's shot from the centre of the box is blocked. They were assisted by Alfredo Morelos.
Corner, Rangers. Stephen O&Donnell Conceded.
The attempt was saved. The Rangers'Connor Goldson had a shot saved in the centre of the goal.
An attempt was missed. Ryan Kent's left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
The attempt was saved. Kemar Roofe's shot is saved in the centre of the goal. Ryan Kent had a cross.
Motherwell, substitution. Sondre Solholm Johansen is the new person.
The Rangers had a substitution. Fashion Sakala was replaced by Kemar Roofe.
An attempt was missed. Ryan Kent's shot from outside the box is too high.
The attempt was blocked. The shot from outside the box is blocked by the Rangers. James Tavernier assisted.
The attempt was saved. The right-footed shot by Goldson was saved in the center of the goal.
The attempt was blocked. Scott Arfield's shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Kaiyne Woolery.
Liam was shown a yellow card for a bad foul.
Scott Arfield won a free kick.
Liam Donnelly had a foul.
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