Kanoute strike sinks Gers

Rangers' European campaign ended on a losing note after slipping to a 1-0 defeat to Group G winners Sevilla.

Rangers' European campaign ends in defeat

Rangers' European campaign ended on a losing note after slipping to a 1-0 defeat to Group G winners Sevilla, although they battled bravely in Spain. The Liga giants started in rampant fashion and it came as little surprise as their early pressure told when Steven Whittaker conceded a penalty for hauling down Fernando Navarro. Former Spurs striker Fredi Kanoute made no mistake from the penalty spot by slotting the ball home past Allan McGregor to give the home side a richly deserved lead. However, the avalanche failed to materialise and, if anything, it was Rangers who frustrated Sevilla from then on without really threatening Andres Palop at the other end. Sevilla came within a whisker of doubling their advantage late on when another former Spurs man Didier Zokora saw his shot bounce off the inside of the post following a swift break.

Off the line

Rangers could have found themselves trailing after a few minutes when Kanoute burst through on goal and his angled drive from close range looked set to find the back of the net before Sasa Papac hooked off the line. But the Glasgow giants were behind with just eight minutes gone when referee Bertrand Layec ruled that Whittaker had tripped Navarro in the box. Kanoute stepped up for the spot-kick and sent McGregor the wrong way to convert with ease. There was another close call for Rangers when McGregor raced off his line to beat Kanoute to the ball, which broke for Jesus Navas but his chipped effort was cleared off the line by Madjid Bougherra. Kanoute then went to ground in the box under pressure from Bougherra but there was no penalty award from the French match official on this occasion. Rangers made a double switch at half-time, with Kenny Miller and the lively DaMarcus Beasley withdrawn for the introduction of Nacho Novo and Kyle Lafferty.

Threatening

But they still failed to cause many problems for the Sevilla defence and it was the home side who were threatening again when a cut-back from Navas was smothered by McGregor, with Kanoute and Dirnei Renato loitering with intent in front of goal. Rangers probably breathed a sigh of relief when Kanoute was withdrawn after an hour for Alvaro Negredo, with the Spaniards having had 15 shots at goal by that stage compared to none from the Scots. Sevilla threw Aldo Duscher into the action for the final 15 minutes and he almost had an immediate impact with a blistering shot from the edge of the box that a full stretch McGregor just managed to tip over the crossbar. Zokora was then denied by the woodwork when his shot smacked off the inside of the post before Navas fired over from the rebound. Rangers finally created a chance when Novo rifled just past the upright but the assistant referee's flag was already raised for offside, before Lee McCulloch drew a decent save from the goalkeeper.

Sevilla	Team Statistics	Rangers
1	Goals	0
1	1st Half Goals	0
7	Shots on Target	1
11	Shots off Target	2
8	Blocked Shots	0
13	Corners	4
6	Fouls	14
1	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
87.7	Passing Success	73.8
23	Tackles	19
73.9	Tackles Success	78.9
63.6	Possession	36.4
56.9	Territorial Advantage	43.1