Aris Limassol vs Rangers. UEFA Europa League Group C.
Alphamega StadiumAttendance3,911.
Match report as Rangers lose to Cypriot First Division side Aris Limassol; Alex Moucketou-Moussounda gives host ninth-minute lead with powerful header; Shavy Babicka scores second just before the hour; Abdallah Sima heads in to pull one back for Rangers, who can't force equaliser
Friday 6 October 2023 06:04, UK
Rangers began life after sacking Michael Beale by crashing to a 2-1 defeat at Aris Limassol in the Europa League.
Interim manager Steven Davis was unable to lift the Gers as the visiting supporters booed their team off at both half-time and full-time following another poor display having lost 3-1 at home to Aberdeen last weekend.
Aris Limassol, who play in the Cypriot First Division, went ahead in only the ninth minute when Alex Moucketou-Moussounda powered a header past Jack Butland.
Rangers' night went from bad to worse when Shavy Babicka turned home in the second half although Abdallah Sima did pull one back for the visitors, who were unable to force a late equaliser.
Rangers never looked comfortable at the back and were undone after only nine minutes when Moucketou-Moussounda powerfully headed in from Leo Bengtsson's cross.
The visitors should have been two behind just minutes later, Mihlali Mayambela crossing low from the right and Bengtsson scooping over.
Rangers' best moment of a dismal first-half performance saw Cyriel Dessers slot the ball past goalkeeper Vana Alves, but the offside flag immediately went up with a lengthy check from the VAR confirming the decision.
The visitors fared little better in the second half, seeing Bengtsson charge down the left and cross for Babicka to sweep home for Aris Limassol's second.
Sima netted an accurate header with 20 minutes to play after the VAR confirmed the goal at the end of another long check, but Gers still needed Butland to produce a fine save from substitute Aleksandr Kokorin to stay in the game, not that they ever looked like equalising.
Sky Sports' Kris Boyd:
"Rangers were deservedly beaten. There's a lot of work to do. Michael Beale has already lost his job, Steven Davis has put out a team that, again, has let down the club.
"The performance level was nowhere near what is required if you're going to be a Rangers player. Some really need to have a hard look at themselves.
"I'm just delighted I'm going to go and walk my dog because that will be more exciting than what I've just watched.
"It's a million miles away from where it was, you look at the team that got to the Europa League final, the recruitment since then has been atrocious. It's been so bad.
"There have been players come in who have failed to hit the heights expected of them and some players that might have been there for too long. It might be time to move some of them on.
"It is not happening for Rangers at the moment. They lost at the weekend, the manager lost his job, managers will come and go but there are only so many times you can see the same players going over to the crowd, clapping them and saying sorry. It's time they put a performance in and got a result.
"Rangers fans spend a lot of money travelling not only all over Scotland but Europe watching their team and they've been let down again."
Rangers interim manager Steven Davis: "It was a really difficult night because we felt a real opportunity to come here and build on the Betis game.
"I think we caused a lot of our own problems in the game. Obviously, with the two goals we give away we're really disappointed with and when that happens you have a mountain to climb.
"Firstly I've got to take some responsibility. In the first half we kept trying to play in the middle of the pitch when it wasn't really on, they were good at getting transitions from that with the pace they had up front which caused us problems all night.
"Whenever you go behind in a second half you must throw some caution to the wind at certain points. We tried to simplify the game really, trying to get the ball in behind, get it wide and cross the ball into the box and ultimately we didn't do enough to take something from the game.
"In terms of the effort of the players, I thought they tried to keep going till the end and in terms of the energy they put in, I couldn't ask for any more in that respect.
"There wasn't a lack of effort, we'd never question that from the dressing room but it is a really difficult moment that everyone is in. When that happens you maybe start to make the wrong decision and things like that.
"Sunday's coming up and it's a really quick turnaround. We're hurting from tonight but it's important as a group we stick together."
Rangers return to Scottish Premiership action on Sunday away to St Mirren, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 12pm.
Their next Europa League match is away to Sparta Prague on October 26. Kick-off 5.45pm.
