Sevilla 1 - 0 Rangers: Frederic Kanoute strike enough as Sevilla cruise home

Published on Wednesday 9 December 2009 23:11

RANGERS' Champions League campaign ended with a whimper rather than a bang as they slumped to defeat against Sevilla in their final Group G match.

• Sevilla matchwinner Frederic Kanoute controls the ball under pressure from Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra. The former Spurs and West Ham striker's eighth-minute penalty was the only goal

The Ibrox side had hoped to claim at least one victory in the tournament this season but a Frederic Kanoute penalty early on proved to be the difference between the two teams.

In fact, Rangers would have felt fortunate to leave Spain with such a narrow defeat in a match the hosts dominated and Walter Smith's side largely failed to trouble Andres Palop in the Sevilla goal.

On a night when it was already mission impossible for Rangers after losing their three home games in the campaign, actor Tom Cruise was in the crowd with his wife, Katie Holmes. Cruise, who has been seen at a fair number of LA Galaxy games since he became friendly with David Beckham following his move to the MLS, is in Spain to film scenes for the James Mangold-directed action comedy Knight & Day, a movie that also stars Cameron Diaz.

The Rangers manager sprang a couple of surprises as DaMarcus Beasley and Steven Smith were both drafted into the starting line-up, the duo having been used sparingly in the SPL so far this season.

Indeed, Beasley had said earlier in the week that it would be likely that he would be seeking a move away from Ibrox in the January transfer window to keep alive his hopes of making the United States squad for next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Striker Kris Boyd had been rated doubtful with a thigh strain picked up against Falkirk in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at the weekend and he failed to make the bench for the clash in Spain.

Sevilla were without their star man, Luis Fabiano, through injury but the former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham striker, Kanoute, was able to start after recovering from an elbow problem.

While Sevilla had gone into the game on the back of a poor run of results, at least by their high standards, Rangers could have found themselves trailing after a few minutes.

Kanoute, who looked a real threat, burst through on goal and his angled drive from close range looked set to the find the back of the net before Sasa Papac saved the day for the visitors as he scrambled the ball off the line.

But Smith's men were behind with only eight minutes gone when referee Bertrand Layec ruled that Steven Whittaker, after needlessly giving the ball away, had tripped Fernando Navarro in the box.

The former Hibernian player tried to be too clever when he should have thumped the ball to safety and his side were made to pay a hefty price as they got off to the worst possible start.

Kanoute stepped up for the spot-kick and cheekily sent goalkeeper Allan McGregor the wrong way to convert with ease.

There was another close call for Rangers when McGregor raced off his line to beat Kanoute to the ball, which broke for Jesus Navas, but his chipped effort was cleared off the line by Madjid Bougherra.

Renato then tried his luck with a shot from distance, which was blocked by McGregor, who spilled the ball for a corner that Sevilla failed to capitalise on.

Renato had another go with a long-range effort which flashed just wide of the upright as the home side continued to carve out the best of the chances.

Kanoute then went to ground in the box under pressure from Bougherra but there was no penalty award from the French official this time.

Renato had another half-chance when he took advantage of hesitation by David Weir only to be denied by McGregor, who initially spilled but quickly recovered to smother.

Rangers made a double switch at half-time, with Kenny Miller and Beasley withdrawn for the introduction of Nacho Novo and Kyle Lafferty.

But they still failed to cause many problems for the Sevilla defence and it was the home side who were threatening again when a cut-back from Navas was smothered by McGregor, with Kanoute and Renato loitering with intent in front of goal.

Rangers probably breathed a sigh of relief when Kanoute was withdrawn after an hour for Alvaro Negredo, with the Spaniards having had 15 shots at goal by that stage compared to none from the Scots.

Sevilla threw Aldo Duscher into the action for the final 15 minutes and he almost had an immediate impact with a blistering shot from the edge of the box that a full-stretch McGregor just managed to tip over the crossbar.

Didier Zokora was then denied by the woodwork when his shot smacked off the inside of the post before Navas fired over from the rebound.

Rangers finally created a chance when Novo rifled just past the upright, but the assistant's flag was already raised for offside, before Lee McCulloch drew a decent save from the goalkeeper in the dying minutes.