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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Stewart Wilson

Clement outlines 'difference in finishing' as Rangers boss left to rue missed chances

Philippe Clement knows Rangers' lack of clinical touch let them down again as they lost 4-1 to Lyon in the UEFA Europa League

Vaclav Cerny and James Tavernier missed gilt-edged chances to put the Scottish Premiership giants ahead - and they were picked off moments later with Malick Fofana netting the first of two for him on the night and Alexandre Lacazette scoring a double to ensure it was the Ligue 1 side who left Ibrox with maximum points.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, the Rangers manager said: "The scoreline, we don't reward ourselves clearly. We have 200% chances the first two chances of the game. You need to kill them off. If it's 1-0, 2-0, it's a totally different game. But we end up behind by losing the ball in places that we cannot lose balls, and then our defending is not sharp enough.


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"We come back to 1-1 but there's two other goals also which we concede because we lose the ball in our own half. So that's very disappointing. 

"Lyon is then in the sofa and can wait for transitions. They are a team with a lot of good players, technical qualities, they made a tremendous third goal also. 

"And then in the second half we tried to push to come back.

"In the end of the game we had the same amount of chances as Lyon, same numbers but the scoreline is clear. And that's the difference in quality and finishing."

(Image: Andrew Milligan (PA)) Clement has talked a lot about how his Rangers team are constantly evolving and becoming a better version of themselves - and he shared a similar sentiment following defeat against a tough opponent.

"The good thing is we kept the support of the fans because they could see the team keeps on digging in and working hard together," he explained. 

"They were trying to create things and scoring the goals, but we need to get better at this level in our defending one against one, and killing off the chances. 

"So the positive is that against a very good team we created so many good chances by (playing) good football. But the next step that we need to take is to finish off the job then. That stays the most important in football. We are going to work hard on that over the next couple of months.


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There's still plenty more games to play in this newly-revamped Europa League league-phase, and Clement understands that failing to register three points at home this time around isn't a complete disaster given the magnitude of Rangers' competitors. 

"We know the reality in the group and the qualities and budget of players. We went full out to win this game but against opponents of this type of quality, you need to take your moments. If you don't take them, then you don't deserve anything from the game."

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