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Rangers beat Sparta Prague 2-1 at Ibrox and embarked on the Europa League adventure.
And the Ibrox side will only want a win at home against Aris Limassol next time out to qualify for the knockout stages. Goals from Danilo and Todd Cantwell secured the win against the Czechs, who responded in the second half with a goal from Lukas Haraslin. Danilo scored a goal via VAR, which would have made all three things more comfortable for Philippe Clément’s team.
But instead, they had to thank goalkeeper Jack Butland towards the end, who denied Haraslin the equaliser. The Rangers may have ended the game, with Danilo hitting the post and Cantwell about to score a second. Here he came close to scoring his first goal for the club before Sparta ended up tense.
But the win keeps Clément’s good start at the top of the table for Rangers. And with Real Betis beating Aris in the other Group C match, his team can now qualify with a game to play. Record Sport has indexed five Ibrox talking points.
Rangers enthusiasts expected the Rangers to be a high-pressure team this season with Michael Beale after a summer transfer slew, but that didn’t happen.
However, if the early symptoms of Philippe Clément’s reign are overlooked, the Ibrox team is NOW a team that will move on.
And like all groups deploying this tactic, it starts with the main attacker. Danilo has shown that he can do this task for Rangers on the European stage. The diminutive Brazilian was very good from the start in the way he stalked Sparta Prague. back line.
I dare say it, but he has done a similar task to what Kyogo Furuhashi has done so well for Celtic in recent years. He never gave them a minute’s respite, he put them under a lot of pressure and this brought wonderful joy to Clement. men. That’s how he scored the first goal, chasing down defender James Gomez, forcing him to make a mistake and sliding the ball into the back of the net.
The rest of Danilo’s teammates have thrived on his speed of work, with open men Abdellah Sima and Todd Cantwell following suit.
Todd Cantwell wouldn’t have liked to have been caught up in the Rangers’ half-time win over the Hearts in the Viaplay Cup semi-final.
It was a wonderful resolution through coach Philippe Clement at Hampden as he replaced him with Scott Wright.
The Belgian has shown that he is willing to make tough decisions, even with the wonderful players at Rangers. He expected a positive reaction from Cantwell, which is why he trusted him against Sparta Prague. And they gave it to him at Ibrox, with the former Norwich City player making a fitting change.
It is not his preferred position to be to the right of the front three; he prefers to play in the center, where Sam Lammers operates. But Cantwell showed last night that he is fit to be compatible with the Rangers’ high-pressure taste.
And he was rewarded with the second goal, which was a shot. The two full-backs, Cantwell and Sima, were constantly looking to get on the pitch when the home side created chances.
When he picked up Danilo’s pass, he expected him to shoot at the goalkeeper with his right foot. Instead, Cantwell stepped in and pushed into the back corner with his left, before receiving applause from the Gers support.
Clement scored four first goals against Sparta last night, as Rangers chased the Czechs from the start.
Within 20 minutes, Danilo, Todd Cantwell and Abdellah Sima had their first impact on the game and the Gers’ 2-0 lead. The only one who didn’t was Dutch No. 10 Sam Lammers. Now, Clement clearly sees everything in the former Atalanta striker, who was signed for £3m via Michael Beale, as he continues to choose him.
But in this artistic role of centre-forward, Lammers wants to show more and the coach knows it. He covers enough ground and tries to back up the team when they don’t have the ball. But Lammers wasn’t hired to make a sly, deadly passes and target Ibrox’s first line.
And for now, it’s not doing enough to justify its reputation or price tag. He’s still starting his career with Rangers, so perhaps he’s still settling in in Glasgow at such a big club.
But Clément has already shown that he will bring passengers. And with players like Tom Lawrence and Kieran Dowell now recovered from injury, Lammers has teammates putting him under pressure for the jersey.
It’s that he played poorly against Prague, but Rangers enthusiasts will (rightly) expect a lot more as the season progresses.
Clement lamented the fact that he would not be able to call up centre-back Leon Balogun against Scomponenta because he is not part of the Rangers squad in the Europa League.
The wonderful Nigerian had performed excellently in the last two wins against Dundee at Dens Park and in the Viaplay Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday. Clemente wasn’t content to lose Balogun for the Czechs’ match against Ibrox, but his replacement Ben Davies didn’t let his manager down.
Davies has shared criticism among Light Blue fans since arriving from Liverpool for £4 million. The fact is, a large number of fans probably sought to have him sold this summer, and at one point it seemed that former boss Beale felt the same way. He returned to the fold before Clement named the player and last night one of his most productive games for the club.
Apart from a loose pass in midfield in the second half, which gave Sparta possession, the Englishman was lightly on the pitch all night. Together with Connor Goldson, who was also right, they kept Prague at bay and helped Gers solve three major problems. in the Europa League.
After Davies’ performance, Clement may now have a resolution of his own in Livingston on Sunday. Is he rewarding Davies with a fresh start or is he remembering Balogun, who hadn’t done much wrong?
Rangers can’t go wrong on Europa League nights at Ibrox. Since 2017 in the local competition they have played 33 matches and won 24. The only 3 defeats were against Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen and Slavia Prague, which is a record.
Last night’s win over Sparta continued a run that began with Steven Gerrard and continued when Giovanni van Bronckhorst took over. The Dutchman made Gers a force to be reckoned with in the Europa League in 2021/22 as he reached every spot. On their way to the final in Seville only to lose to Eintracht Frankfurt.
They’ve struggled at the organisational level of the Champions League last season, but in Europe, very few organisations come to Ibrox and take anything with them, and Clément will be hoping to keep that momentum going this season.
The victory over Sparta puts them better in their organisation ahead of Real Betis, who they have already beaten in Govan, and now three free points from Aris Limassol after the international break will allow them to qualify for the round of 16 again.
And with such a track record, no one will be passing by Clément after the new year.