After the shambles of the mid-week UEFA Europa League performance at home against Olympique Lyonnais, Rangers Football Club—and manager Philippe Clement, in particular—needed to win.
They did duly oblige but the match was not without its drama, and the team’s performance perhaps not as optimal as Clement might have hoped. He made two changes to his starting eleven, with Nicolas Raskin and Ross McCausland replacing Connor Barron and Tom Lawrence respectively.
Rangers FC Line-Up
First XI: Jack Butland, James Tavernier, John Souttar, Robin Pröpper, Jefté, Mohamed Diomande, Nicolas Raskin, Václav Černy, Nedim Bajrami, Ross McCausland, Cyriel Dessers
Bench: Kelly, Sterling, Kasanwirjo, Balogun, Fraser, Dowell, Barron, Hagi, Igamane
On the Pitch
Rangers dominated possession, and had the lion’s share of chances, as might be expected against the team sitting 11th in the table but could not find a way through until the 34th minute.
Václav Černy, the Czech winger on loan from VfL Wolfsburg, took a simple pass from Mohamed Diomande out on the right, and turned it into an assist for his first goal through some skilful footwork followed by a magnificent left footed strike into the far corner from the edge of the box.
Ianis Hagi came on to raucous applause from Ibrox at the start of the second half, replacing Ross McCausland. And in the 58th minute, he threaded a ball through to Černy at the edge of the box, showing Gers fans exactly what they have been missing for the past 14 months.
Černy danced around his marker with more fancy footwork, and slid the ball into the far left corner with his right foot to double the Light Blues’ lead.
It was as good as it was going to get for Rangers before Hagi’s dream return to the pitch turned into a nightmare. He lunged in studs-up on Kimpioka, and though he initially received only a yellow card from the on-field referee, VAR review upgraded it to red in the 81st minute for serious foul play.
Match Reaction
Philippe Clement spoke to RangersTV after the match:
“Pleased is a good word.
“It was not a top performance, but it’s important to win and keep a clean sheet. We need to have respect for every opponent, and you saw today also in other games that the two teams ahead of us had to score in the last five minutes.
“We need to take every game seriously and that’s what we did. But we need to raise the quality also.
“It’s at the end of a series of a game every three days, and perhaps the team lacked that freshness in that way.
“I wanted them to score the third or fourth goal to really kill off the game.
“We didn’t do that and the goalkeeper made some really good saves; we had some opportunities where we could have had more composure like the two goals we scored.”
Václav Černy was understandably pleased with his contribution when speaking to RangersTV post-match:
“It is always pleasing to score. I needed that. It was two good moments and two good finishes and I am very glad to do that.
“Do I want to contribute goals? That’s the major thing I would love to bring but if it is not possible I want to give my all to help the squad some other way.
“I am here to do this though and I will work very hard to keep doing that.
“The manager has been great with me. He has been amazing, especially for the past week.
“I was struggling with my goal contributions, but I appreciated the talks we had and the trust he has in me. It means a lot to me.
“I want to repay him for that.
“I have had ups and downs but that is pretty normal. I want to do everything in every game the best I can.
“Not every time you get the result you want, but the most important thing is we stick together. I think we are showing that.
“I knew coming here there was a demand. At the clubs I have played at before, it was no different to Rangers.
“It is supposed to be this way, the demands on everyone that we do well. That is more than normal but we have to accept that and embrace it.”
After the Match
Up next for Rangers after the international break is the visit to Kilmarnock on 20th October, and then they host FCSB at Ibrox in the UEFA Europa League on 24th October, three days before they play St. Mirren at home.