Rangers FC Thrashed at Ibrox by Olympique Lyonnais in UEFA Europa League

There had been progress in recent weeks. Rangers FC had pulled together four successive wins since the heartbreaking defeat away in the Old Firm, and were especially impressive away in Sweden against Malmö FF, winning 2-0.

However, it all came crashing around them at the Ibrox Stadium last night.

Philippe Clement made three changes to the starting eleven, with Mohamed Diomande returning in midfield to partner Connor Barron, Nedim Bajrami starting at left wing instead of Ross McCausland, and Cyriel Dessers up front for Hamza Igamane.  

Rangers FC Line-Up

First XI: Jack Butland, James Tavernier, John Souttar, Robin Pröpper, Jefté, Mohamed Diomande, Connor Barron, Václav Černy, Tom Lawrence, Nedim Bajrami, Cyriel Dessers

Bench: Kelly, Sterling, Kasanwirjo, Balogun, King, Fraser, McKinnon, Dowell, Raskin, McCausland, Lovelace, Igamane

On the Pitch

Rangers began the match brighter of the two teams, forcing early saves from Perri—Václav Černy guilty of missing an absolute sitter—before Lyon started carving out their own chances. Lacazette drove his shot straight at Butland in the ninth minute but the visitors kept coming, and Malick Fofana found the back of the net seconds later.

The Light Blues were level quickly. Jefté’s cross from the left wing caused all sorts of havoc in Lyon’s penalty area, and Tom Lawrence found the telling touch in the 14th minute to restore parity.

It was all downhill from there for the home side, though. A terrible backward pass from Barron found only Fofana, who ran through into the Gers box, and slid the ball across for Lacazette to score in the 19th minute.

The former Arsenal striker punished Rangers once more in first half injury time to double Lyon’s lead. He received the ball in the left hand channel, drifted across to the middle, and unleashed a scorcher into the top right hand corner to leave Butland with no chance.

Intricate footwork down the right from Cherki in the 55th minute allowed him to slide it across the face of goal and find Fofana, who tapped home the sitter for his second, and Lyon’s fourth, of the night.

Substitute Kieran Dowell forced a magnificent save from Perri in the 73rd minute but there was little else to cheer for the home support.

Match Reaction

Philippe Clement spoke to RangersTV after the match:

“With the scoreline, we don't reward ourselves, clearly. We have 200 per cent chances, the first chances of the game but we need to kill them off. 1-0, 2-0, it turns into a totally different game.

“So we go behind by losing the ball in places that we cannot lose the ball. Our defending is not sharp enough.

“We come back to 1-1, then we concede because we lose balls in our own half, so that's very disappointing. Of course, Lyon can soak up and wait for transitions. They are a team with a lot of good players with technical qualities. In the second half, we tried to push to come back.

“At the end of the game, when you have the same amount of chances and the same numbers, but the scoreline is clear. That is the difference in quality and finishing.”

After the Match

Up next for Rangers is the visit of St. Johnstone to Ibrox on 6th October in the Scottish Premiership. The team will hope to get back to winning ways before the international break, and return to domestic football with confidence away at Kilmarnock on 20th October.