Rangers take fragile lead to Geneva as failure to fully punish 10-man Servette leaves Champions League hopes in balance

Rangers will take a lead to Geneva next week following the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie with Servette, but there will be an overwhelming feeling that it should be greater than one goal.

Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers netted the Ibrox club's second goal of the night against Servette.

As a result, this tie with the Swiss outfit is far from over, as it really should be. Ahead 2-0 after just 15 minutes, creating good chances and playing with an extra man for the final 30 minutes at Ibrox against a team missing eight regulars, Rangers manager Michael Beale will surely lament the fact that his men only managed to prevail 2-1 on a muggy night in Govan.

It will make Tuesday’s return match on the banks of Lac Leman a far more dangerous assignment than perhaps it should be. Servette will depart Scotland quietly confident they can turn the tie around in Switzerland next week. They showed courage to recover from their dismal start and exposed some frailties in Rangers’ defensive set-up.

Stung by an opening-day Premiership defeat by Kilmarnock at the weekend, Beale started all three of his expensively-procured attackers in Sam Lammers, Danilo and Cyriel Dessers. They all began with purpose, clearly in the mood to blitz their depleted Swiss visitors early. Their first sortie of the Servette penalty box resulted in a goal on six minutes, when Todd Cantwell nipped in front of the dozing David Douline, who was unaware of his presence and tripped him. Referee Donatas Rumsas immediately pointed to the spot and James Tavernier sent the ball straight down the middle.

That goal imbued Ibrox with energy and the second goal followed on 15 minutes. Borna Barisic was given too much space to whip in a fine cross and while it was missed by Danilo, his failure to convert flummoxed goalkeeper Joel Mall and Dessers bundled home at the far corner.

A third goal would surely have put the tin lid on this match and quite possibly the tie. Sam Lammers really ought to have added it on 38 minutes after a brilliant counter-attack involving Nicolas Raskin, Danilo and Dessers served the ball up on a plate for the Dutchman, only for his sclaffed effort to slip wide of the gaping goal. It was this match’s watershed moment.

Just four minutes later, a delayed VAR check resulted in a penalty being awarded for a handball against Dessers, whose arm was too far in front of him when defending a cross. Chris Bedia stepped up and despite a cacophony of whistles, sent Jack Butland the wrong way.

Servette had gone from looking somewhat overawed by the whole occasion to the more comfortable of the two teams, but on 54 minutes Rangers nearly restored their two-goal lead. Raskin was at the heart of the move, shuttling the ball wide to Tavernier, and his pinpoint delivery found Lammers. This time the forward did everything right, only for Mall to make an excellent reflex save to deny him.

The trajectory of this match changed again just before the hour-mark when the hapless Douline was shown a second yellow for a wild swipe that caught Cantwell. His dismissal was indisputable and gave Rangers fertile ground to increase their lead.

Mall once again showed reactions of a cat to paw away a Dessers effort following a training-ground corner kick on 70 minutes as Rangers naturally hemmed Servette in. Abdallah Sima and then debutant Jose Cifuentes plus Kieran Dowell were introduced to try and freshen up the team. Sima missed a presentable chance on 80 minutes by shooting straight at the keeper.

That was to be the last opportunity for Rangers as the crowd started to get disgruntled with their floundering efforts to score again. It leaves a tie that should be dead very much alive.