Victims Rangers rue lost Champions League fortune after ref's highly controversial call - but another absence felt dearly

Hampden had already proved a profitable place for Ukraine and so it proved again for the nation's premier football team, who benefit to the tune of £4 million for progressing to the play-off round of the Champions League after this contentious victor over Rangers.

The Ibrox side have won plenty of titles here but have never landed a windfall totalling as much as that figure at the national stadium. Scottish and League Cup winnings pale by comparison.

They will rue many things, including a delay to renovations at Ibrox that meant they had to play this critical match at Hampden, where Ukraine not only triumphed in a World Cup play-off but also won a last-16 Euro 2020 match against Sweden as well - there was a contentious red card that night too.

Dynamo Kyiv manager Oleksandr Shovkovskyi was part of the coaching team on both those occasions and relished another favourable evening here as his side secured a Champions League play-off tie against Salzburg.  

Rangers’ main frustration will be the red card to Jefte after 50 minutes that they will argue cost them a relative fortune. Both Dynamo Kyiv’s goals came late on, when their hosts admirable resistance – not only resistance, they took the game to the visitors – had started to creak, with tired legs the key factor. 

The Rangers players trudge off the pitch after losing 2-0 to Dynamo Kyiv. | SNS Group

Substitute Oleksandr Pikhalonok swept in the opener after 82 minutes and Rangers’ hopes were shattered two minutes later when fellow substitute Nazar Voloshyn played a one-two with Mykola Shaparenko and rifled home.

The empty spaces in the stands were a reminder of what had been wrought on Rangers by the board’s failure to keep to a schedule for renovations of the Copland Road Stand. It was night and day to what it would have been at Ibrox, where nearly 50,000 would have roared Rangers on. This had the feeling of Scotland v Gibraltar at times. The volume level was ratcheted up in the second half but not in circumstances desired by Rangers, who were the victims of a very questionable decision from Italian referee Marco Guida. 

Jefte came on and helped change the game last week in Poland. His departure here also had a significant bearing on the outcome. The Brazilian picked up a wounding second yellow card five minutes after half-time for, one presumes, leading with his elbow when he challenged Oleksandr Karavaiev for a high ball. It looked very soft. Jefte had been booked in the opening half for a lunge on Andriy Yarmolenko by the far touchline.  

While it was a healthy enough crowd, and the singing section did their utmost, the intensity was lacking. Rangers’ chances threatened to partly evaporate in the space between pitch and stand. These hopes were all but extinguished by Jefte’s long walk to the stand.

Jefte was sent off in controversial circumstances. | SNS Group

“The crowd can be like a twelfth man on the pitch for my players and we have to try to create the same kind of atmosphere that has made European nights at Ibrox famous around the world,” urged Philippe Clement in his programme notes for this ‘home’ game.  Albeit there were some flashing half-time lights when Rangers came out for the second half, but it was debatable whether the hosts managed to make it just like home.

Ironically, Rangers’ decision to increase the distance between the stands and pitch was actually credited with helping them overcome the considerable obstacle of Dynamo Kyiv when they last met in competitive European action 37 years ago. The then manager Graeme Souness ordered the Ibrox groundsman to make the pitch tighter and therefore renders the visitors’ dangerous wingers less effective. The tactic worked, though helped by the away ‘keeper Viktor Chanov dropping the ball at Ally McCoist’s feet in a 2-0 home victory. The striker poked the ball back for Mark Falco to set Rangers on their way in front of frenzied home crowed.

Rangers had no such assistance here and Kyiv’s threat from wide was evident. They relished the width of Hampden, Vladyslav Kabaiev in particular. He left James Tavernier in his wake early on but his cross was just too far in front of the onrushing dangerman Yarmolenko. A Tom Lawrence cross had already caused a certain amount of havoc on the Ukrainians’ box although Cyriel Dessers could not take advantage. Ross McCausland’s inclusion had raised some eyebrows – not because of any lack of ability on his part, but more because Vaclav Cerny had been so impressive in his last two appearances, the latest of them from the start against Motherwell.

McCausland was lively and most of Rangers’ best moments in the opening half either came through him or least involved the Northern Irish winger, who tested Georgiy Bushchan with a shot from the edge of the box. The ‘keeper pushed the ball wide but naught came of it.

Dynamo Kyiv celebrate the opener at Hampden. | SNS Group

It was a poor half. Cerny’s arrival in place of McCausland was the only change – Clement explained before kick-off that he had been advised not to start the Czech Republic by the medical team with the player still attaining peak fitness.

He had barely been introduced to the game before his ability to impact it became severely impeded by Jefte’s departure. He saw one shot blocked after some trickery on the edge of the box. Rangers received a let-off after Karavaiev, the perceived villain in the eyes of Rangers fans, pushed his side wide of the far post when straight through although he might have been put off by some sterling tracking back from Ridvan Yilmaz and John Souttar.

The goal that broke Rangers came down the right, with Karavaiev transferring the ball to No. 76 Pikhalonok. He evaded Dujon Sterling’s challenge before cutting in a shot from 20 yards past Jack Butland. A second goal two minutes later out the seal on Dynamo Kiev’s victory, with Voloshyn doing well to keep the ball in on the far side before carrying on his run and hitting Shaparenko’s return ball into the net. Rangers head to the Europa League group stage. They will hope Ibrox is ready by then.

How the Rangers players rated against Dynamo Kyiv