Rangers 2-0 Progres Niederkorn: dominant hosts in strong position to progress
Sheyi Ojo doubled Rangers' advantage with a superb strike
Rangers took control of their Europa League second-round qualifier with a dominant win over Luxembourg side and 2017 conquerors Progres Niederkorn.
Joe Aribo curled in the opener as the hosts asserted themselves, and Sheyi Ojo arrowed in after the break.
The only disappointment for Rangers was the lack of further goals, James Tavernier missing a penalty and Ojo and Ryan Jack having efforts disallowed.
Should they complete the job next week, Rangers will face Danes Midtjylland.
However, Steven Gerrard's side could well have secured a more comfortable cushion to take to Luxembourg after a strong display against a side who were reduced to 10 men in the closing moments.
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Reaction & as it happened
Silence in the dressing room & Pedro in a hedge
Rampant Rangers create barrel load
While the pain and humiliation inflicted on Rangers by Progres two years ago was never likely to have any bearing on the outcome of this tie, Gerrard spoke pre-match about the importance of showing how far the club has come since that chastening night.
In terms of dominance, his players certainly did that. By the time Scott Arfield's clever shimmy and pass teed up Aribo to stroke home the opener from the edge of the area, Rangers had been camped in the visitors' half for almost 20 minutes. The only surprise was that they had not taken any of their other chances before.
Plenty more would come their way, too. Alfredo Morelos controlled Aribo's cross, swivelled rapidly and fired inches wide, Andy Halliday had two efforts blocked, and Arfield's diving header was saved. Then Ojo was denied a second by the linesman for offside having tapped in the rebound from Steven Davis' shot. And that was just the first 45.
A muted start to the second half, and any nerves about the surprisingly slim advantage, were soon swept away in spectacular fashion by Ojo. The on-loan Liverpool winger's curling strike sailed into the net to confirm the hosts' supremacy.
Ojo, and Aribo in particular, shone in midfield and gave Rangers a directness and pace that brought them forward time and again. Jack almost tapped in a third but Progres goalkeeper Sebastian Lauss just beat him to a through ball after a superb flowing move.
Substitute Jordan Jones added yet more pace to the Rangers attack and his searing run terrified the visitors' defence and drew the foul that led to the penalty. Tavernier's uncharacteristic miss will rankle with Gerrard, as it would surely have killed the tie.
But it was not the only missed opportunity. Jack's disallowed effort was unfortunate and substitute Jermain Defoe forced a good save from Lauss, and there were a barrel load more.
Progres were reduced to 10 men when Tom Laterza was shown a second yellow in the last five minutes, but it made little difference to the flow of proceedings. It should have been more, but Rangers will take this in the knowledge a remotely comparable performance next week should see them into the next round.
James Tavernier passed up the chance to put Rangers 3-0 ahead
- Line-ups
Line-ups
Rangers
1McGregor
2Tavernier
8Jack
10Davis
4Edmundson
11OjoSubstituted forStewartat 81'minutes
37ArfieldSubstituted forJonesat 66'minutes
16Halliday
6Goldson
17AriboBooked at 71mins
20MorelosSubstituted forDefoeat 75'minutes
Substitutes
9Defoe
13Foderingham
18Kamara
19Katic
22Jones
24Stewart
31Barisic
Progrès Niederkorn
1Flauss
5Vogel
22TekielaSubstituted forFrançoiseat 80'minutes
4SkenderovicSubstituted forMatias Marquesat 33'minutes
10MuratovicSubstituted forMmaeeat 45'minutes
23Ferino
32LaterzaBooked at 88mins
7de Almeida
40Silaj
38Karayer
34Hall
Substitutes
8Cervellera
9Bastos
11Mmaee
14Françoise
70Matias Marques
81Czekanowicz
97Shala
Referee:
Espen Eskas
Source: bbc.com
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