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 Jiri 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.
McInnes tweaked his side following the welcome and convincing win over St Mirren with midfielder Dan Neil in for Belgium playmaker Nico Raskin, who had an ankle injury but was deemed fit enough for the bench.
Right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic, signed from Aston Villa on a season-long loan deal with a conditional obligation to buy, was also among the substitutes.
The visitors, backed by only a couple of dozen fans, looked composed in the early stages and it was the eighth minute before Rangers threatened.
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Winger Djeidi Gassama cut inside from the left and his powerful drive from 25 yards was pushed over the bar by 38-year-old Jablonec goalkeeper Jan Hanus for a corner which came to nothing.
The Govan side had other chances.
Midfielder Vanja Dragojevic fired wide from distance, left-back James Penrice had a shot blocked by Hanus and then Dragovejic hit the post after being set up by Naderi but the first half fizzled out and disgruntled Gers supporters vented their frustration.
There was a VAR check early in the second half after Naderi went down in the Jablonec penalty area after a challenge from Nemanja Tekijaski but Romanian referee Marian Barbu took no action.
A minute later, Naderi made the decisive breakthrough, guiding the ball high into the net after winger Daisuke Yokota had headed Neil’s searching cross to the back post back into the German attacker’s path.
Five minutes later, the home side should have doubled their lead but Gassama blazed over an open goal from Naderi’s cross.
There was some drama when referee Barbu checked his pitchside monitor at the behest of VAR and showed a red card to Devlin, for his high challenge on defender Slama, which changed the complexion of the match.
Nedeljkovic came on to make his debut, along with Connor Barron, as the hosts held on to their advantage – but the tie is far from finished.
