Rangers 2-1 USG: Done and dusted

Afternoon all, what a lovely surprise last night turned out to be. Continuing the run of Rangers-related surprises following a competent away performance on Sunday and actually getting rid of Dowell and Matondo (loan to Hannover 96 confirmed yesterday). A good European home win leading to the top 8 finish which I'd say we had an outside chance at going into the game.

There's absolutely no doubt that finishing top 8 in this format is a massive achievement. The quality of teams around and above us tells you all you need to know about how much we've punched above our weight, yet again, in Europe.

In the pre-match discussions, there was much debate between myself and frequent guest writer Jack about who would play at the heart of the defence. He said King and Propper, I thought he might throw Souttar in, and then I said "no doubt he will do something really stupid and put Tavernier centre back and King right back". Initially it looked a strange decision but there's no doubt Tav impressed at centre back at Old Trafford. Given the importance of the game, and the lack of trust Clement has in King, it makes sense he'd give Tavernier the more difficult job.

And it was a big chance for Leon King too, a start at right back isn't what he will have envisaged, but showing himself as a capable deputy could have see him get more minutes this season. So it was just our luck that he was struck down by a head injury 14 minutes into the game. Ross McCausland was introduced and asked to fill the right back berth, as far as I know this was his only experience of the position aside from 10 minutes at the end of Dundee away.

I thought McCausland was honestly okay, one of Raskin and Dio was always close to him, which was no doubt intentional to protect the Northern Irishman playing out of position. He wasn't particularly neat and tidy on the ball, but given USG looked to go down that side every time they got the ball I was happy with his performance. Although I was grateful when Souttar was introduced for Cerny in the second half to allow McCausland to take up his usual post on the right.

As for the game, I think our attacking performance was a mixed bag in terms of execution. Instead of allowing Igamane to play off Dessers like he did on Sunday, he was asked to occupy the left wing with Bajrami playing behind Dessers. I'm not sure what Bajrami did on Sunday to justify taking over from Igamane and forcing the Moroccan out wide. If anything it was probably a case of recognising the lack of legs in wide areas, and Igamane certainly did his job in terms of tracking back and covering Jefte. I thought we really lost a lot of our attacking zip through the middle though, Igamane's close control is wasted out wide, he can turn in a phone box when he needs to, in the middle that draws the midfield in to try nick the ball and lets him dance around him. In the wide areas you are happy to watch a player like Igamane take the ball down with his back to play. We made it easier for USG to defend.

Our first goal was from a clever set piece, which was yet another surprise. Normally we would be just lumping the ball in the box, given the lack of height in the line-up that would have been a waste of time. Instead we took a corner short, it was laid back to Tav, now at a better angle for a cross. The Rangers captain played a delightful cross to the back post and Nico Raskin moved in, unseen, to head us in front. It's only his second goal for Rangers, his first coming against Hibs in Clements first game, but it was good movement from the Belgian that allowed him the space to head home.

Taking the lead relatively early was good, we hadn't allowed USG to settle and I think they struggled to get going again after we got our noses in front. Although what took the wind out of their sails more was a close ranger equaliser being chalked off for offside by VAR. It was tight, but the correct decision in the end. It was a warning though, it was easy to see that USG could hurt us if we let our guard down.

A nice Dessers finish was flagged for offside shortly before the break. There wasn't lots of goalmouth action in the first half but we just about deserved the lead.

Most had barely taken their seats in the second half before USG should have been level. A good ball in behind put Fuseini in and he rounded a hesitant Butland before shooting at the empty net. Thankfully Tavernier was switched on, he made a truly fantastic block to stop the shot going in. Butland continues to look quite unimpressive since being restored for Liam Kelly.

Not even 10 minutes later, that block looked even more crucial as we went two goals up. Two defensive headers by Diomande and Igamane in quick succession got the ball to Bajrami. The Albanian recognised the space in front of Dessers and set him running with a great first time ball round the outside of the defender. Dessers carried the ball well, he slowed down when approaching the box to allow the Rangers attack to catch up, before a quick drop of the shoulder got him a yard of space and his low ball into the box was well finished by an onrushing Cerny.

Vaclav Cerny making it two nil to Rangers

2-0 had started to look like it flattered us given the onslaught of USG chances we'd faced, and would continue to face as the game went on. As I mentioned earlier, Souttar was thrown on to reinforce the backline and replace Cerny who was tiring after missing Sunday's game.

Cerny nearly made it 3 minutes later with a cracking drive off the outside of the post from his right foot. Igamane went close with an effort from distance after a good break from Rangers. After that the USG onslaught began again.

The end of the game was made very nervy when Kevin Mac Allister was left home alone in the box to head USG back into the game. Butland seemed to get his angles wrong as the header somehow found it's way over the head of the 6'5 shot stopper.

There were a few more missed chances from USG in the Rangers area, including a shot curled over from Ross Sykes after the big centre back had found some space. Thankfully, our luck held and the game finished 2-1.

Then we got the news that due to results elsewhere Rangers were finishing top 8. Minor pandemonium ensued. It's a nice feeling to skip a round of the draw, similar to last season. But given the extra games and the kind of record required to be top 8, this was much more impressive in my view.

We saw a bit more of Nsio and Lovelace in the game after they were introduced late on. As far as I'm concerned we need to trust these kids because our options are limited, and crucially we want them to actually build up this experience.

I think the return of Souttar is timely given the shakeyness on show at the back last night, but part of me thinks that's coming from Butland and feeding into the backline. We will have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading, and have a good Friday everyone.