Managerless Rangers slip further into mire with defeat at Aris Limassol
Rangers’ season went from bad to worse with a 2-1 Europa League defeat by Aris Limassol in Cyprus.
Steven Davis, the former Rangers midfielder, was asked to take over on an interim basis after Michael Beale was dismissed at the weekend following the dismal 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen at Ibrox which left the home side seven points behind the Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.
Whatever plan Davis put in place for Europe failed to work during a dreadful first-half performance in which Alex Moucketou-Moussounda headed the home side in front after just nine minutes.
Shavy Babicka added a simple second goal in the 59th minute before Abdallah Sima pulled a goal back for the visitors 10 minutes later but, despite heavy pressure in the final stages, they could not complete the comeback.
Rangers beat Real Betis in their Group C opener but, once again, the players came up short here. They travel to St Mirren on Sunday before the international break but this was a real setback in Europe with a double header against Sparta Prague looming.
There had been some encouraging team news for the visitors in the buildup to the game with Kemar Roofe and Nico Raskin declared fit. However, only the latter, who had missed four games with a knock, started. Borna Barisic and Scott Wright, who was sent off against Aberdeen, also came into the first team picked by Davis.
Aris Limassol, who claimed their first league title last season, were playing their first home game in the Europa League in an 11,000-capacity stadium which looked less than half-full, with the pitch far from perfect. Rangers, playing in a new, mainly red kit, looked disjointed and ill at ease from the start and there was no real surprise when they fell behind.
Jack Butland blocked a shot from Mihlali Mayambela for a corner which was taken short and, when Leo Bengtsson crossed into the box from the right, Moucketou-Moussounda got away from Connor Goldson to flick a header past the keeper. Moments later, after Barisic sloppily conceded possession, a quick Aris counter ended with Bengtsson clearing the Rangers bar from close range when he at least should have hit the target.
The rattled visitors battled back and Vaná, Aris’s Brazilian keeper, comfortably saved an angled drive from Sam Lammers. Cyriel Dessers had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside by the linesman, confirmed by a lengthy VAR check.
Vaná saved a Sima header from a Barisic corner, then the keeper collided with Dessers inside the box and required some treatment before continuing. The home side called for a penalty just on the stroke of half-time when the ball appeared to hit Sima’s hand inside the box, but a VAR check ruled in favour of the lacklustre visitors.
Mayambela started the second half by driving over from the edge of the box with Rangers’ defence again looking fragile. When Sima’s shot was parried into the air by Vaná in the 54th minute Dessers could not finish it off, although he was offside.
The Cypriot side always looked dangerous on the break and Rangers fell further behind when Bengtsson left John Lundstram in his slipstream down the left and crossed for Babicka to escape the attention of Ben Davies and beat Butland with a confident finish.
In the 67th minute Davis brought on Roofe and Jose Cifuentes for Lammers and Raskin and there was a quick return when Sima headed in a Lundstram cross, which brought another VAR check, but this time the goal stood.
Rangers had hope. Moments later, however, a mistake by Davies inside his own box almost proved costly, but Butland saved the drive from Aleksandr Kokorin at the expense of a corner, which came to nothing. Rangers pushed hard in the final stages for the equaliser, but it was mostly in desperation, and not even six minutes of added time could help salvage a point.