Rangers 1-4 Olympique Lyon: Laca-quality

Well that wasn't very fun. Rangers fell to a disappointing defeat at home to Lyon last night. There was a gulf in quality between the squads, but even with that, we looked very competitive for the most of the first half, and in the second nothing really happened sadly.

We started the game fairly positively, we took risks and pressed very high, Tav missed a chance at close range and then Cerny missed an even bigger chance. And then our weak defending was exposed for the first time in the game, Cherki came inside and we struggled to stop him (that would become a theme of the night), he laid off Fofana who passed it coolly into the far side of the net.

I worried that would flatten us, but we didn't let it slow our momentum and we got forward, Dessers caused issues with the keeper, it fell loose and Lawrence lifted it over the keeper. We were level and it really felt like we had the onus to take the lead.

There was a bit of confidence about us, over confidence it turned out, Barron played a blind pass across the pitch, it was intercepted, Lyon played it well and Lacazette finished to make it 2-1. That felt like a sucker punch, but even then, we weren't awed.

It seemed like we were trying to go blow for blow with Lyon. Bajrami and Jefte absolutely dazzled on the left, in terms of improving the way we play, those 2 have had a great impact with their partnership. It felt like time and time again we created chances but couldn't score them.

I think if we'd gone in 2-1 down at the break we could have potentially built on the good play we'd had in the second period of the first half. But that wasn't to be, Lyon had it down the left, it was played into Lacazette who finished superbly into the top right corner. Have to say don't think I've ever seen him finish with such conviction when he played in England.

But that really felt like all she wrote, unfortunately we lost Lawrence to injury at half time, Dowell coming on as his replacement. I think one of the most disappointing things is that all the goals Lyon scored in the first half came from the wide areas in some way, and Clement just didn't do anything to address that. And, surprise surprise, that was how the 4th goal materialised, with Cherki crossing low for Fofana to get his second.

So that really was it, a few minutes later we introduced Kasanwirjo for Tavernier. I thought Kasanwirjo did well again and might be in starting contention for the next European game. But it felt like locking the stable door after the horse had bolted.

The rest of the second half passed without much incident, we had some half chances, Lyon missed some chances of their own. But really it looked like we wanted the final whistle to come from the moment the 4th goal went in.

I did think in the second half the ref was really bad, but not to a game changing level, which really added to the general frustration in the stadium.

A few people made the point that when we needed a right back sub, the manager went for the Dutch loanee over the newly locked-down Dujon Sterling. But I did mention yesterday that the manager clearly prefers him elsewhere as we saw when he came on further ahead last night. So not much to read into there.

I think it's concerning to see us concede almost at will without the manager looking to change things. I think there was some positives in our play, but it really doesn't bode well for our upcoming fixtures in Europe, Lyon are not the best team we will play and I think something will have to change in our approach for these games.

My biggest concern is the form of Vaclav Cerny. He can't seem to do anything in front of goal at the moment and that's really his role in the team. I think we should see McCausland starting on the right in the coming games, he's done nothing wrong coming off the bench recently and I'm sick of Cerny standing with his hands on his head after blasting another shot into the defender or scuffing a good chance wide.

Certainly not an ideal result after what was a relatively solid defensive run. Hopefully we see a response at the weekend and batter the hapless St Johnstone.