Rangers 0 - 1 Malmo: Larsson goal leaves slack Rangers in disarray

Published on Tuesday 26 July 2011 18:10

IT MAY have been a glorious summer evening in Glasgow last night but the first storm clouds of Ally McCoist's tenure as Rangers manager gathered regardless as his bid to reach the group stage of the Champions League got off to a bleak start.

A Swedish international striker called Larsson inflicting pain on the Ibrox club is not a new phenomenon but on this occasion is was widely unexpected. Just as his namesake Henrik did many times in a Celtic jersey, so 24-year-old Daniel was the source of anguish for Rangers and their supporters as his early goal earned Malmo a startling but fully deserved victory.

McCoist and his team now face a daunting task in the second leg of this third qualifying round tie at the Swedbank Stadium next Wednesday night if they are to avoid a painful early exit from Europe's elite tournament.

While McCoist's managerial career is still at the embryonic stage, this disheveled display from the Scottish champions will be a source of deep concern. Even allowing for the superior match sharpness of a Malmo side halfway through their domestic campaign, Rangers were dismally ponderous last night.

But for the excellence of goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who made a string of fine saves, this tie might already have been beyond McCoist's men.

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As it is, they must make an unprecedented recovery from losing the first leg of a European tie at home if they are not to miss out on the 15 million bounty awaiting the group stage participants.

Even before Larsson had given Malmo their 18th-minute lead, there had been no shortage of indications that Rangers were struggling to come to terms with the 3-5-2 formation deployed by McCoist.

The uncertainty among the three central defenders was evident inside the opening 60 seconds when hesitation on the part of Madjid Bougherra allowed Larsson to pose his first threat of the evening. As the striker looked to race clear on goal, Bougherra recovered enough to poke the ball away from him but also directed it beyond the advancing Allan McGregor. Fortunately for Bougherra, an own goal was avoided as there was insufficient pace on the ball and the danger was cleared up.

Rangers continued to flirt with calamity in and around their own penalty area, with McGregor forced to make the first save of the match in the eighth minute, reacting smartly to beat out Wilton Figueiredo's shot after possession had been conceded cheaply to Larsson. The ball broke to winger Jimmy Durmaz, who should have done better than blaze his shot wide of the target with McGregor still scrambling to recover his position.The intended attacking options of Steven Whittaker and Lee Wallace on either flank of the five-man midfield could not be utilised to any telling effect by the home side as they toiled to maintain effective and sustained possession of the ball. Nikica Jelavic sent a twisting header wide of the target from one Whittaker cross but it was a fleeting moment of danger for the visiting defence.

It was Whittaker's failure to fulfil his defensive duties at the other end which led to Malmo securing their precious breakthrough. The Scotland full-back was all-too-easily dispossessed by Durmaz, unconvincing claims for a foul against him going unheeded by Spanish referee Antonio Lahoz. Durmaz fed the ball inside to Figueiredo and the Brazilian flicked it with flamboyant accuracy into the path of Larsson whose stinging right foot shot from the edge of the penalty area flew beyond the helpless McGregor into the roof of the net.

Rangers were in disarray and McGregor had to show good concentration to ensure they did not fall further behind when a free-kick from Figueiredo took a deflection off the defensive wall before being gathered low down by the goalkeeper.

The situation prompted McCoist to leave his preferred directors' box seat for the technical area where he was soon overseeing a change in both personnel and formation. Veteran captain David Weir, who appeared to have suffered a hamstring strain earlier, saw his first appearance of the new season come to a premature end after just 29 minutes when he was replaced by Juan Manuel Ortiz. The Spanish winger was installed on the left flank in a reshuffled 4-4-2 formation which saw Wallace withdrawn to his more familiar left-back role.

The alteration brought little immediate improvement in Rangers as an attacking force, although they did finally force Malmo goalkeeper Dusan Melicharek into action. After Figueiredo had collected the first caution of the night for handball as the blocked a free-kick from Jelavic, Steven Davis took the subsequent set piece from the edge of the penalty area and saw his curling effort kept out by Melicharek's dive to his right.

Having left the pitch to a chorus of derision at half-time, Rangers invited further disapproval from their supporters when they were fortunate to escape going 2-0 behind just two minutes after the restart.

Figueiredo outpaced Sasa Papac as he broke free on the right and delivered a perfect cutback into the path of Larsson. It was a glorious opportunity for the striker to double his tally for the night but, mercifully for Rangers, he badly miscued his shot right in front of goal.

Lee McCulloch provided a sliver of encouragement for the home fans with a long-range effort which Melicharek dived to his right to turn behind for a corner but Rangers were hampered both by their own lack of creativity and a palpable deficiency in sharpness whenever they did force their way into the Malmo penalty area. Twice in succession, Steven Naismith was especially culpable as he contrived to miss relatively simple close-range opportunities at the far post after being picked out by Jelavic's crosses from the right.

Jelavic and Davis missed chances to level for Rangers but they needed another terrific stop from McGregor to deny Jiloam Hamad in the closing stages as Malmo saw out a fully-merited success.

Rangers (3-5-2): McGregor, Bougherra, Weir (Ortiz 29), Papac; Whittaker, Davis, Edu, McCulloch, Wallace; Naismith, Jelavic. Subs not used: Alexander, Broadfoot, Fleck, Healy, Wylde, Hemmings.

Malmo (4-4-2): Melicharek, Halsti, Jansson, Andersson, Hamad; Mehmeti (A Wazari 54), Mutavdzig, Pekalski, Durmaz; Larsson (Fernandez 81), Figueiredo (Rexhepi 69). Subs not used: Garaca, Malm, O Wazari, Aubynn