Rangers 1 - 0 Feyenoord: Stunning first-half strike earns Gers three points in opener

Rangers attacker Sheyi Ojo celebrates his goal.

The on-loan Liverpool player probably wouldn’t have started had his fellow wingers Ryan Kent and Jordan Jones not both been sidelined by injury but his stunning first half goal was enough to secure all three points against Feyenoord.

Rangers had to dig deep in the second half when the Dutch side stepped it up but Gerrard remains unbeaten as manager in 12 European games as manager. His team will travel to Switzerland for their matchday two assignment against Young Boys on 3 October in bullish mood.

On an evening laced with emotion for Rangers as they paid tribute to Fernando Ricksen, their approach to the contest echoed the tenacity and dynamism their former captain so often displayed throughout his life and career.

Feyenoord, after a lively enough start of their own in which Steven Berghuis saw a shot deflected just over before Allan McGregor was forced into a smart save to deny Orkun Kokcu, were knocked out of their stride by the intensity of the hosts’ pressing play.

As Gerrard’s side took a firm grip on proceedings, they were handed the opportunity to make the breakthrough from the penalty spot in the 10th minute.

Scott Arfield’s surge into the area saw him force a corner off Feyenoord captain Eric Botteghin. The ball was whipped in from the right by Borna Barisic and after Filip Helander nodded it towards the six yard box, Feyenoord central defender Edgar Ie was adjudged to have blocked it with a hand by Spanish referee Antonio Lahoz.

But with the home fans ready to celebrate, James Tavernier’s success ratio from 12 yards suffered another dent when he struck his penalty against the outside of Kenneth Vermeer’s left hand post. It’s the second time the Rangers captain has failed from the spot this season after his miss against Progres Niederkorn in the Europa League qualifiers.

Rangers were undaunted by the setback, maintaining a high tempo and territorial advantage which Feyenoord were struggling to answer. The frame of Vermeer’s goal came to the visitors’ rescue again in the 19th minute when Arfield displayed neat footwork to create a shooting opportunity, his powerful effort cannoning off the crossbar.

But Rangers’ relentless harrying of their opponents reaped its reward when they took a deserved lead five minutes later. Barisic, who looked to be relishing his latest chance to prove he should be Gerrard’s first choice left-back, did well to win a 50-50 challenge and force the ball into the path of Ojo.

Displaying impressive poise and balance, the Liverpool loanee steadied himself and swept a thunderous shot beyond the despairing Vermeer.

As Rangers sought to press home their advantage, the Feyenoord ‘keeper kept his side in contention with a fine double save to deny the eager Alfredo Morelos. The Colombian striker looked very much in the mood but his difficulties in controlling his enthusiasm surfaced again when he was booked for a needlessly late challenge on Vermeer.

Gerrard’s only gripe with his team’s first half display would have been the margin of their lead. They should have doubled it just before the break when Ojo again showed delightful skill to create an opening for himself but saw his shot deflected onto a post and wide.

Jaap Stam gives the impression he is more than capable of reading the riot act to his players when he feels they and underperforming and the Feyenoord players resumed in the manner of a team whose ears were still ringing from their interval team talk.

There was far greater purpose and menace to their play at the start of the second half and Botteghin missed a glorious chance to equalise when, completely unmarked, he badly miscued a close range header from Luis Sinisterra’s corner.

Dutch international forward Berghuis, operating in a more central position after playing wide in the first half, was causing increasing problems for the Rangers defence and forced a tremendous save from McGregor with a well worked effort.

Rangers were suddenly seeing much less of the ball and were struggling to find any attacking penetration with the possession they did have. They eventually took some of the sting out of Feyenoord’s work and missed a decent chance to give themselves the comfort of a second goal when Arfield headed over from a Tavernier cross.

Gerrard introduced Brandon Barker and Joe Aribo in a bid to enliven his side in the closing stages but it was Feyenoord who finished more strongly with McGregor making another excellent save to deny substitute Luciano Narsingh with four minutes remaining.