UEFA PUNISHMENT: 3 talking points as Rangers put to the sword by lethal Lyon with Ibrox club set for latest UEFA punishment
UEFA PUNISHMENT: 3 talking points as Rangers put to the sword by lethal Lyon with Ibrox club set for latest UEFA punishment
The French side recorded their third consecutive victory over Rangers at Ibrox in European competition
Lethal Lyon proved too hot for Rangers to handle on matchday two of the Europa League on Thursday night and the end scoreline could easily have been much worse than 4-1 for Philippe Clement’s side.
Despite a lacklustre start to their domestic campaign after a summer of big spending, the Ligue 1 outfit had been showing signs of clicking into gear with back-to-back victories against Olympiakos in Europe and away to Toulouse at the weekend. The Ibrox men always know they would face a massive test to come away with a positive result, even on home soil.
But they were tormented all evening by Lyon’s clinical front three during a sublime show full of attacking quality. There were no arguments with the final outcome, with the Light Blues guilty of missing two gilt-edged chances in the first-half to open the scoring. James Tavernier was denied at close range after just three minutes and Vaclav Cerny missed an absolute sitter with the goal at his mercy. And the match was over as a contest just shy of the hour mark as Lyon asserted their dominance and began to flex their financial muscle.
GlasgowWorld reflects on three burning post-match talking points as Rangers were brought back down to earth with a bump after the high of opening their Europa League with a historic first-ever win in Sweden last week…
Lyon a level above
Clement referenced in his pre-match media conference the financial gulf between his side and Lyon, who spent around £120 million on players in the summer, declaring “it’s a different world to us”. Visiting boss Pierre Sage had the luxury of leaving several big hitters on the bench with the likes of ex-Manchester United and Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha, €32m club record signing Moussa Niakhate from Nottingham Forest and €28.5m Ghanian winger Ernest Nuamah all named among the substitutes.
They showed real flashes of quality, especially in the final third with midfield maverick Rayan Cherki, 19-year-old rising star Malick Fofana and experienced striker Alexandre Lacazette bossing proceedings. The game got away from Rangers rather quickly, with the trickery of Cherki, the craft of Fofana and the finishing prowess of Lacazette doing the damage.
Barron left bruised
The former Aberdeen midfielder has arguably been one of Rangers best summer signings judging by his performances so far this season, but he endured an off-night against the French giants. A major first-half error – a blind pass back midway inside his own half which was pounced upon by Fofana is ruthless fashion – was very uncharacteristic of him and he held his hands up straight away.
This was always going to be a baptism of fire for Barron and unfortunately he struggled to recover from that mistake. He caught Tolisso on the ankle with a late second-half challenge which earned him a yellow card and wasn’t able to prevent wonderkid Cherki from skipping past him with some nifty footwork before setting up teammate Fofana at the back post. In the end, Barron was replaced by Nicolas Raskin on a tough night. A learning experience.
UEFA fine for firework show
Not for the first time, Rangers will be slapped with another hefty financial punishment from UEFA following the actions of some supporters housed in the Copland Road Stand. The pyrotechnics show from the Union Bears was quite a spectacle but was enough to land the club in more hot water.
It was the release of fireworks into the night sky from one section that will ramp up the level of the fine heading their way when the European governing body conduct their report, with German referee Sven Jablonski forced to call a halt proceedings on the pitch for a minute until thick smoke cleared the stadium. A highly dangerous display that put fans at risk and could have resulted in serious injury.
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