The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Napoli put three past 10-man Gers
RANGERS 0 NAPOLI 3
Ten-man Rangers were left searching for their first Champions League point after a 3-0 defeat by Napoli at Ibrox, where penalties were the turning point of the game.
Returning goalkeeper Allan McGregor sensationally saved a retaken Piotr Zielinksi spot-kick on the hour after Gers defender James Sands was sent off for conceding it, before he was beaten from 12 yards in the 67th minute by Matteo Politano.
Giacomo Raspador added a second with five minutes remaining and fellow substitute Tanguy Ndombele grabbed a third in added time.
The Light Blues lost 4-0 to Ajax last week after going down by the same score against Celtic at Parkhead in their previous match.
Boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst had vowed to stick to his footballing philosophy after two heavy defeats, but he rang the changes from Amsterdam – one enforced as 40-yearold McGregor returned in goal for the injured Jon McLaughlin.
Colombia striker Alfredo Morelos made his first start since March, while Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield came into midfield with John Lundstram dropping back to a five-man defence.
Against Uefa instructions, fans had been invited to sing the national anthem after the minute’s silence to commemorate the death of the Queen.
Then came a pulsating first half.
Morelos came close in the first minute with a glancing header.
In the 12th minute a powerful Arfield drive from 25 yards was beaten away by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret for a corner, before McGregor denied Giovanni Simeone with his leg at the other end.
The home supporters had the stadium to themselves and were almost off their seats when Morelos, booked earlier for a late challenge on Meret, fired in low from the edge of the box but the keeper gathered confidently.
Napoli posed a constant threat and Georgia international Khvicha Kvaratskhelia flashed a drive inches wide from the edge of the box just before the interval. Then came the madness.
As Simeone raced through on goal he was tackled by Sands, who had been booked just three minutes earlier.
Referee Mateu Laho produced a second yellow and then red to send the USA international packing.
McGregor saved Zielinski’s penalty but Politano slammed the rebound through the keeper’s legs.
However, after a lengthy VAR check the penalty had to be retaken for encroachment and McGregor again dived to his right to parry Zielinski’s spot-kick.
However, another Napoli penalty arrived when leftback Borna Barisic was adjudged to have handled a drive from Kvaratskhelia and this time Politano found the bottom corner.
McGregor saved a drive from Zielinski as Napoli took control but with five minutes left Raspador combined with Mathias Olivera and knocked in a second before Ndombele struck from 14 yards in added time for a third.