RANGERS 4 CORINTHIANS 2
Graeme Murty’s men were two down at half-time and looking a bit off-colour.
But they hit the heights in the second half and a double from “The Buffalo” Alfredo Morelos and strikes from Andy Halliday and James Tavernier earned them a Florida Cup victory over the Brazilian outfit.
It meant Murty’s side ended their winter break in the US with two wins and head from Florida to Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup at the weekend.
The Spectrum Stadium in Orlando is nicknamed The Bounce House.
So the Rangers fans – renowned for doing The Bouncy at Ibrox – would have felt right at home.
The bowl-shaped venue normally hosts 45,000 fans and when they all jump in unison, the place shakes to its foundations – hence the nickname.
There wasn’t much chance of that yesterday but around 400 Bears had travelled to the States for the match.
After their 1- 0 victory over Atletico Mineiro in the early hours of Friday, Murty was looking to build on a good second half display in particular.
He mixed things up again with his team selection. Wes Foderingham got his first action of the trip in goal and it was a more established back four in front of him.
In midfield, Niko Kranjcar was given a sitting role while in-form Josh Windass – who bagged the winner against Atletico – was pushed on to sit off lone striker Eduardo Herrera.
In the wide areas , Michael O’Halloran was on the right with Portuguese flop Dalcio given another chance to shine on the left.
Before kick- of f The Simpsons characters were on the pitch.
But in a first half there was nothing funny about Rangers’ defending.
They had plenty of the ball and worked themselves into promising positions at times.
Their best move was when Kranjcar produced a killer ball for Windass but his shot was saved by Cassio.
But they were slack and careless at both ends of the pitch – and it cost them big style. They’d been given an early warning when Romao’s 25-yard rocket thudded the bar and they trailed after half an hour.
There has always been a question mark about Tavernier’s back- post defending and his deficiencies were highlighted at Corinthians’ opener.
Playmaker Jadson delivered a brilliant cross but the full-back got caught under it and Rodriguinho was on hand to volley past Foderingham from six yards. Rangers were now on the back foot and although only a friendly, Murty would have wanted more intensity from his side.
Before the break, they were 2- 0 down and adding insult to injury, it was former Celtic frontman Colin Kazim-Richards who scored.
A ball over the top of Gers’ backline put the Turkish international in and he drilled into the bottom corner.
It was another cheap goal to lose and Murty rang the changes at the interval, with new signings Sean Goss and Jamie Murphy coming on.
Halliday took over as skipper from Danny Wilson and Mor e los replaced Herrera up front.
The Colombian offers far more than the Mexican and he got Rangers back in the game with a cracking goal.
Goss whipped in a free-kick and Morelos tucked it away on the half-volley from close range.
On- loan QPR midf ielder Goss impressed on his debut against Mineiro and his delivery from setplays could be a feature of Rangers’ play in the second half of their Premiership campaign.
Just like in their first Florida Cup tie, Murty’s second-half team were performing far better than the one who started. There was more of an edge to them and they were le vel 20 minutes from time. Morelos got in down the right and his cutback was perfect for Halliday who lashed it into the roof of the net. It was a terrific equaliser and – back after being axed by Pedro Caixinha – he was thr i l led a s he j umped the advertising boards to celebrate. And it got even better for Murty and the Gers supporters when they completed the comeback to lead 3-2. Murphy’s cross from the left found Morelos and with little back-lift he smashed it beyond Cassio. With Corinthians now looking like a beaten side, Tavernier rubbed salt in their wounds by adding a fourth with an easy finish.