Match Thread [FT] Rangers 1 (Sima 67) - 0 Real Betis

[ranger_syntax 3,775]

A good result. The manager, and the players, needed that.  You could see the players improved for a while after going ahead.

[Graeme Ro55 649]

If only this forum had a user who could break down the XG of the two sides tonight

 

[Gonzo79 13,639]

15 minutes ago, Graeme Ro55 said:

If only this forum had a user who could break down the XG of the two sides tonight

 

Rousseau is too busy recovering from a win to collate stats.  

Edited September 21, 2023 by Gonzo79

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,480]

28 minutes ago, Bill said:

By far the best thing about that game was how unexpectedly poor the opposition was.

I don't think they were that bad. Maybe we did enough to make them lose their way in the 2nd half? I know we've been honking of late but sometimes we just need to give our team credit where its due. We won a Europa League match against a La Liga side. I would say 100% of Rangers fans would have taken that before the game.

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,480]

I thought we did well tonight. We had a lot of players with bursts of good moments. If only we could bring them altogether to make a full 90 minutes.

[CammyF 6,787]

Fantastic result against a very handy outfit - when was the last time we beat a team from Spain in a European game?

 

 

 

Thought the whole team contributed;

 

Butland was solid and pulled of a couple of good saves. Flapped at one cross but no harm done.

 

Tav played way more defensive tonight and was good.

 

Goldson had a good game.

 

Davies was outstanding in my opinion.

 

Borna like Tav played more defensively.

 

Cifuentes came onto a game after a slow start and probably his best game so far.

 

Lundstram like Davies was outstanding.

 

Lawrence was maybe the least effective of the starting 11 but had one brilliant effort prior to going off injured. 

 

Sima is an enigma, the modern day Sebo but showed great desire to force ball home. 

 

Roofe had very little service but played well.

 

Matondo was a constant threat and up there with Lundstram and Davies.

 

 

[stewarty 1,876]

First half we looked disjointed trying to draw them out but couldn’t seem to get any consistent balls into the midfield.  They were on top of us and seemed to be waiting to trap us so many times.  However we grew into it though and I thought second half we were much better positionally, which helped create more pressure and ultimately chances. 
 

They showed some nice touches but otherwise I thought we more or less contained them in the final third. 

[26th of foot 5,836]

Well done Rangers.

 

We hung in there for the first 40 minutes, then stepped up. I think we controlled the second half, the Keeper and Kemer Roofe were outstanding throughout.

 

I believe the last time we won against a Spanish team in European competition was Osasuna in 1985, Hugh Burns rampaging through the puddles and Craig Paterson scoring.

[JohnMc 2,473]

I was at that Osasuna match. It rained so hard that night the Clyde Tunnel was closed due to flooding. Funny the things you remember. 

 

It feels great to have won, and on balance I think we deserved it. We were disjointed and struggling to find any rhythm in the first 30 minutes or so but from around then onwards we were the better side, I thought. I think we're all agreed that Butland had a very good match, arguably our man of the match. I thought our defence played well, Goldson was immaculate and the other 3 stuck to their task and came out on top more often than not. Still not convinced we're good enough mid to front, yet. Perhaps it'll gel and come good. there were patches of decent football last night, but we still give up possession too easily. Lawrence going off is a blow, hopefully it's nothing serious. 

 

 

[Devil's advocaat 1,276]

I think wee Tamundo may be the fastest player I've seen wear the Jersey, incredible.