(Apart from DeMarcus Beasley, that is, who didn't play). Always love the Wednesday UEFA Champions League lunchtime kickoffs, it was a bit of a surprise to see that Rangers/Lyon was televised here rather than Roma/Man United, but it sure promised to be an entertaining match, what with Rangers only needing a draw to advance to the next round.
Don't think I'd seen a game from Ibrox televised before, and I'm sorry to say that the home side's performance was not one for the ages. Sloppy defending and a general lack of attack up front combined with careless possession of the ball all added up to much anxiety for the home supporters. How Sidney Govou missed a shot after slipping behind the defense only 3 and a half minutes into the game, I'll never know, but he quickly rebounded a save from Rangers goalie Allan McGregor 16 minutes in to give the French side a well-deserved 1-0 lead, which would be the half time score as well. However, for the first 25 minutes or so, there was a palpable lack of confidence from Rangers about how to attack with one striker that made it a bit hard to watch. The second part of the half went a bit better in terms of defense and offense, but there were no serious enough chances that weren't turned back with a good defense and some goaltending.
The second half went like the latter part of the first half, but Jean-Claude Darcheville, the Rangers striker with an injury problem that led to the team starting with just the one striker upfront, and who came off the bench late in the game, missed a point-blank shot in front of the net that might have tied the match. Karim Benzema for Lyon then finished off the home side late in the match with a couple of beautiful goals that totally crushed any spirit the home side had left, and Darcheville compounded his night by drawing a red card for stomping on the ankle of Lyon's Kim Kallstrom a bit later.
All in all, it was definitely not the best CL match I'd ever seen, especially one with advancement riding on the line, so the flatness of the home side was definitely something to wonder about. Still, my Celtic buddies are well pleased with tonight's result, so a Hail Hail shout out to them would be in order, though delighting in the misery of others, especially your bitter rival, isn't something one should repeatedly enjoy doing. Right?
SCOTSMAN STORY
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