Frustration for Rangers but local shrubbery left intact
ON a night of mixed emotions for Rangers, the main one was perhaps relief. The frustration at the result would have been behind the disappointment at the performance but the result was ultimately what mattered most.
In the end, it was a case of onwards and upwards for Steven Gerrard as his side booked their place in the third qualifying round of the Europa League despite an uninspiring showing in this goalless draw with Progres Niederkorn.
For those that were here two years ago, the sight of the Stade Josy Barthel – from the now infamous bush outside to the bowl behind the harsh concrete facade – would have brought back painful memories.
That night will go down as perhaps the worst that Rangers have ever suffered on the park and it was a result that undoubtedly set them back years. As Gerrard admitted before the first leg, he wouldn’t be at Ibrox if the beginning of the end of Pedro Caixinha’s tenure hadn’t happened here.
With a two-goal cushion to their credit, Rangers rightly made the return trip with confidence but they made it harder for themselves than it ought to have been. The gap in class and quality was evident at times at Ibrox, but Gerrard’s side were underwhelming here.
The Ibrox manager had demanded a performance as well as the result from his players and he would have expected a strong side to start assertively and aggressively to put the tie to bed. One goal was all Rangers really needed, but they laboured in their attempts to get it.
The expectation that Progres would have to come out and be more attacking in their approach didn’t come to pass too often in the first half. The hosts were still compact in their set-up, while a couple of challenges were strong, to say the least.
There was enough guile and quality in the Rangers line-up but they found it difficult to breach the Progres defence as the ball was shifted from side to side patiently but rarely played with any real purpose in the final third.
The best chance of the half was the first one that Rangers created. From what initially seemed a lost cause, Scott Arfield almost opened the scoring as he chased down a pass from Sheyi Ojo and turned it towards goal.
His effort clipped the near post and rebounded to safety. At that stage, Gerrard wouldn’t have thought that was as close as his side would come for quite some time.
As the minutes ticked on, Rangers had to remain patient as frustration levels started to creep up. For Progres, every Rangers attack that came to nothing raised their confidence.
A spell midway through the first half was promising for Niederkorn but they couldn’t capitalise and find the goal that would really have started making Rangers worried.
A shot from Metin Karayer was ballooned well over Allan McGregor’s bar, but a glancing header from Emmanuel Francoise was a bit closer to target as he diverted a corner wide of the far post.
It was a sign that Rangers could take nothing for granted and McGregor was forced into action for the first time a couple of minutes later. Francoise was again the danger man and McGregor got down easily to hold a strike from distance.
The remainder of the half was all Rangers but the all-important goal continued to elude them and they were guilty of over-playing at times as Sebastian Flauss wasn’t tested enough as the clock ticked towards the interval.
A Borna Barisic free-kick summed up Rangers’ efforts in front of goal in many ways. From a promising position at the edge of the box, the Croat scooped a tame effort high over the bar. On a booking, albeit a soft one for
The Ibrox side hadn’t offered anywhere near enough and their quality hadn’t shone through. On a poor pitch against stuffy opponents, it was anything but a captivating watch in Luxembourg