LOKOMOTIVE DERAILED BY TRAINGERS
Stewart chuffed as his double puts tourists on track to glory
Rangers rained goals down on Lokomotiv Tashkent – now Greg Stewart aims to bask in sunshine at the end of the season.
The Light Blues avoided the worst of the floods in Dubai as they hit the champions of Uzbekistan with a deluge of strikes. The UAE suf fered its heaviest downpours in a decade over the weekend but there was no clouding the gap in quality between the sides. Steven Gerrard fielded a different team in each half as their winter training camp drew to a close – and Tashkent had no answer to either of them. To paraphrase the arch-critic at the old Glasgow Empire when Bernie Winters followed his brother Mike on to the stage: “Aw naw, there’s two of them.”
In the opening half, goals from Jermain Defoe and Sheyi Ojo put Rangers on cruise control in front of a crowd of 3000 ex-pat fans at the Sevens Stadium.
After the break Steven Davis, James Tavernier and Stewart, with a double, underlined the superiority of the Scots in a match that ultimately amounted to little more than a leg stretch.
Thankfully, there was no repeat of the scenes from two years ago when Aberdeen took on Tashkent and the match ended in a melee as the Scots responded to over-the-top tackling from their rivals.
Former Dons frontman Stewart said: “I have played against them before so I knew what to expect and I let the boys know.
“I had memories of that game although sometimes you want that niggle anyway to get something out of the match.
“It was a good win and a good exercise to play well and score six. It has been a good week’s work so it was nice to finish like that.
“We even had Scottish weather for the game! However, we didn’t come here for a holiday.
“It was all about putting in the hard work and getting back to business.
“We had an unbelievable support here and even though we get it every week at home I didn’t expect it this time.
It was great to give them that result.
“We hope it sets us up for a great second half of the season and we are buzzing to be back.
“We always feel we can do better and are working hard every day in training to make that happen.
“Hopefully, we can get something special at the end of the season.”
Former England star Defoe slipped Rangers in front after 10 minutes when he rounded off a fine move involving Brandon Barker and Ojo. Scott Arfield threaded a pass for Liverpool loan star Ojo to fire the second high into the net in 27 minutes as Rangers dominated. Davis added a third three minutes into the second half with a thunderous drive from the edge of the box that flew in off the underside of the bar. Skipper Tavernier nodded in a fourth in 70 minutes when he rose at the back post after Ryan Kent had bamboozled the Tashkent defence on the left. Abdullaziz Yusupov fired a low shot from the edge of the box past Andy Firth in 78 minutes but it was little more than a consolation for a rare foray into the opposition half. That goal only served to anger Rangers and Jordan Jones, booked earlier for diving, was bundled over in the box in 80 minutes for a stonewall penalty converted by Stewart. Jones then played in the striker in injury time after a fine run and Stewart slid home the sixth as the class of the Ibrox side shone through.
Rangers used 24 players in total, with Alfredo Morelos and Allan McGregor looking on from the sidelines.
Stewart added: “I’ve said since I came to Rangers how difficult it is to get a game because the squad is so good and so big.
“When you get minutes under your belt, you can only do your best and try and contribute.
“My versatility obviously gives the manager different options and I play as needed and as told. We have a lot of squad depth so when you are called on you always have to do your best.
“It always feels good to contribute some goals.
“I’ve just enjoyed learning from top players in my first six months at the club, working with them day in, day out and learning from the staff as well.
“It has been amazing but all that hard work in the first half of the season means nothing. We need to push on now and do as well as we can in the second half.
“We feel we can keep getting better and we will work hard in training on what we have been practising.
“Hopefully, it can take us to something special at the end of the year.”
It wasn’t a holiday .. it was about hard work