Philippe Clement regretted two early missed opportunities to “put fire in the stands” during Rangers’ “very harsh” 4-1 Europa League loss to Lyon at Ibrox.
Skipper James Tavernier and winger Vaclav Cerny missed solid chances to put the home side ahead before 19-year-old Belgian Malick Fofana found the net with a curling shot from 12 yards just 10 minutes in.
Gers midfielder Tom Lawrence equalized in the 14th minute. Still, two goals from captain Alexandre Lacazette before halftime quickly put the French side ahead. Fofana added a second in the 55th minute, further embellishing the scoreline.
“I think we started the game with good intentions, with good intensity, with good quality also,” said Clement. He noted that Lawrence left at halftime due to a hamstring injury that will probably rule him out of the Premiership match against St Johnstone on Sunday.
“To put fire in the stands, to have an amazing European evening, when you have two 100 per cent chances, the first two chances of the game, you need to kill them off to get a special European night.
“We did a lot of good things, but the goalkeeper made a really good save for the chance of Tav, but he could have put the ball also sideways, where we have two players totally free to tap the ball in, and Vaclav is also a tap-in to a free goal.
“So I don’t think we can do much more than creating those kind of chances, I don’t think you can create better chances than that, but you need to kill them off.
“Against teams with this quality, you don’t get so many chances, so that’s disappointing.
“And it’s also disappointing the way we got goals against with losing balls in the areas where we couldn’t lose the ball, and a few times not good defending in our aggression and in the one-against-ones against top players, as they’ve shown today.
“But 1-4 is a really harsh result, if you see. In the end, it’s the same amount of chances that both teams have, and we had more in the first half, but it was 1-3 with halftime, and that’s the difference in quality. So it’s a big working point for us.”
Clement clarified his decision to substitute captain Tavernier for Neraysho Kasanwirjo when the score stood at 4-1 in favor of the visitors.
He said: “Everybody can be replaced, and he has already played a lot of games, so not much to say about that.
“And Nana (Kasanwirjo) showed also last couple of weeks that he can be a really good replacement, and he’s defensively very solid, so those are normal things.
Ally McCoist Impressed by Robin Propper in Rangers’ Loss
The center-back delivered an exact cross-field pass to Vaclav Cerny on the right side, who then cut inside to generate a scoring opportunity that the visitors at Ibrox ultimately halted.
Propper’s start to his time in Scotland has been varied as he works on establishing a partnership with John Souttar, and McCoist was quick to commend the Dutchman for his early influence.
Speaking live on TNT Sports on Thursday (October 3, 8:04 PM), McCoist remarked: “It [Rangers chance] all comes from the switch of play, and what a switch of play it was from Robin Propper.”
“It’s a tremendous ball out to Cerny on the right-hand side. It’s some switch, right over the head of Tagliofico.”
Robin Propper Receives High Praise in Rangers vs. Lyon
Propper appears to have had some difficulty adapting to life in Glasgow since his summer transfer from FC Twente, but he seems to be starting to find his rhythm.
The Dutchman might have considered himself unfortunate not to be part of the goals after delivering a great pass to Cerny. However, the Wolfsburg loanee appears to be lacking confidence at the moment.
Although there were encouraging moments in the first half, like Propper’s passing and Tom Lawrence’s equalizer, Philippe Clement would have been tearing his hair out if he had any.
The Gers displayed moments of brilliance against formidable opponents. Still, basic errors allowed the Ligue 1 side too many opportunities to take advantage, which players like Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette capitalized on.
Fans will be disappointed by the outcome at Ibrox, particularly after the encouraging signs in the opening minutes. Still, there was a notable disparity in the two teams’ quality.
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