Sevilla produced a breathtaking second-half performance to stun Rangers 4-1 in the driving rain.
Spaniards batter Gers with breathtaking second-half showing
Sevilla produced a breathtaking second-half performance to stun Rangers 4-1 in the driving rain at Ibrox on Tuesday.
With the scores level at 0-0 at half-time the Gers were well and truly in the match after a solid first half.
However goals from Abdoulay Konko after 50 minutes, Adriano after 64, Luis Fabiano on 72 and Frederic Kanoute two minutes later hammered home the difference in quality between the two teams.
Rangers substitute Nacho Novo produced a stunning consolation in the dying moments but Walter Smith's men were already soundly beaten.
The Gers will point to the fact that the referee, Jonas Eriksson, failed to award them what looked like a blatant penalty in the opening 45 minutes when crucially the scores were deadlocked at 0-0.
Sevilla unsurprisingly had the most of the possession in the opening exchanges and nearly took the lead after 13 minutes.
Jesus Navas was proving to be the danger man for the visitors and when he found space on the right you could sense danger. The little Spaniard looked up and picked out Kanoute who shot straight at Allan McGregor from six yards.
Responded well
The hosts responded well and the midfield trio of Kevin Thomson, Pedro Mendes and Lee McCulloch were beginning to find space and get on the ball and they thought their efforts had won a penalty on 36 minutes.
Mendes burst forward down the right hand side of the area but his cross could only find Konko. The defender, however, sliced his clearance allowing Steven Naismith to bear down on goal, but Konko reacted and flicked out a leg to send Naismith tumbling to the floor.
Unbelievably Mr Eriksson failed to award the spot-kick much to the disbelief of everyone inside Ibrox.
Sevilla came out strong in the second-half and were in front five minutes after the restart and it had to be Konko who got it.
The Spaniards switched play from a free-kick to the right hand side and Navas found Konko free in the middle to head home.
Rangers responded well as they looked to get back on level terms but were delivered a sucker punch when the visitors added to their lead when Fabiano crossed for Adriano who placed the ball back where it came into the bottom right hand corner.
Domination
From there on in Sevilla dominated and made sure of their win when Kanoute's looping cross from the right was met emphatically by Fabiano who got above Steven Whittaker - who had initially given the ball away earlier in the move - to power past McGregor with his head.
Fabiano was influential again when he burst through two minutes later and squared for strike partner Kanoute to simply tap through the despairing hands of McGregor.
Novo finished the night off on a positive note for Rangers and got the goal their efforts deserved when he cut inside from the left flank and fired powerfully past Andres Palop in the Sevilla goal.
| Rangers |
Team Statistics |
Sevilla |
| 1 |
Goals |
4 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 3 |
Corners |
3 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76 |
Passing Success |
82.3 |
| 26 |
Tackles |
15 |
| 88.5 |
Tackles Success |
73.3 |
| 49.5 |
Possession |
50.5 |
| 49.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.4 |
|
