Match report: Hamburg 2 - 1 Rangers

THOMAS Bendiksen scored his first senior goal but he could not prevent a Rangers side made up predominantly of fringe players falling to a 2-1 defeat by Hamburg in a mid-season friendly last night.

Bendiksen fired home a 70th-minute equaliser in the German port after fine work from Sone Aluko down the right flank. Aluko made a costly error against Kilmarnock on Sunday but this time it was Neil Alexander’s turn to deliver a crucial mistake when the goalkeeper gifted Heung-Min Son the winner in the dying minutes.

Rangers manager Ally McCoist left out a number of regular first teamers including Steven Davis, Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic, while both Kyle Lafferty and Alejandro Bedoya joined Carlos Bocanegra, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Lee Wallace and Steven Naismith on the injury list.

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The Bundesliga side largely controlled the opening stages, with Slobodan Rajkovic heading against the post from a corner then Robert Tesche’s long-range drive beating Alexander but also clearing the bar.

Hamburg are struggling near the Bundesliga relegation zone and coach Thorsten Fink won his first match since taking over only just over a week ago..

Kane Hemmings came close to giving Rangers the lead when Hamburg keeper Tom Mickel spilled a Steven Whittaker drive into his path, but the keeper made amends by saving his close-range effort.

Hamburg grabbed the lead seven minutes before the break when the impressive Ivo Ilicevic finished off a neat one-two with Tesche by steering the opening goal past Alexander.

The home side were on top early in the second half with Son shooting just wide and Zhi Gin Lam also coming close, before Tesche should have made it 2-0 with a volley which hit the top of the bar.

Rangers grabbed the equaliser against the run of play when Bendiksen showed admirable composure to fire home after Aluko had beaten two men before cutting the ball back.

But nine minutes from time Hamburg netted their winner when Alexander spilled a simple back-header and Son was on hand to bundle the loose ball into the net.

Lafferty was clearly missed last night but his absence was unavoidable as he has been sent for a scan on his back. McCoist is optimistic the problem is not serious, however. Lafferty came off in the first half of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League leaders’ 1-0 loss at Rugby Park after the back problem flared up.

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“We’ll know more about Kyle later because he is getting a scan but it’s not something we are overly concerned about,” said McCoist before last night’s friendly.

“It’s a standard thing the medical staff do in general with one or two particular injuries and that’s the case here. Hopefully Kyle will be okay.”

Rangers: Alexander, Whittaker, Perry, Bartley, Broadfoot, Ortiz, McKay, Edu, Wylde, Fleck, Hemmings..