Ryan Naderi’s second-half strike gave unconvincing Rangers a narrow 1-0 win in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off tie against Czech outfit Jablonec at Ibrox.
Derek McInnes got his first win as Gers manager at the fifth time of asking with a 5-1 thumping of St Mirren on Sunday but there was regression in the goalless first half which brought boos at the interval whistle.
The Govan side pepped up after the break and Naderi opened the scoring from close range in the 50th minute but in the 78th minute substitute Cammy Devlin was sent off – minutes after coming off the bench – for a high tackle on Jriri Slama to leave Rangers to see out the game with 10 men.
Jablonec created little but will fancy turning the tie around in the return leg next week, following a weekend free of domestic football for Rangers to help preparations for a key European tie.
Gers fans, however, would have preferred that to have been in the Europa League, where they were dumped out of the qualifiers by Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok, before dropping down to European football’s third-tier competition for the first time.
Here is how the Rangers players rated out of 10 for their performance.
9. Daisuke Yokota
Grew into the match after a quiet start. Had a telling contribution when cutting the ball across goal to Naderi for the opener. Looks Rangers' classiest player. Made way for Curtis. 7 | SNS Group
10. Djeidi Gassama
Was Rangers' most dangerous player and his pace and direct running posed Jablonec problems. Blotted his copybook with a terrible miss from six yard out when blazing over with goal gaping. Had to defend when Rangers went down to ten men. 6 | SNS Group
11. Ryan Naderi
His goal was crucial - but it was an open goal from three yards out. Worked hard, gave Rangers an outlet and tried to link play where he could. Shattered by the end. Should take confidence from two goals in two games. 7 | Getty Images
12. Cammy Devlin
Cammy Devlin (2) came on 69 minutes and was sent off five minutes later for a tackle above the shin on Slama. Findlay Curtis (5) was brought on at the same time and had one good run. Connor Barron (n/a) was asked to stiffen up the midfield and there was a late debut for Kosta Nedlekjovic (n/a) as McInnes tried to protect his backline. Lawrence Shankland (n/a) appeared in stoppage time. | Getty Images