Rangers quelled growing unrest in the stands and silenced mounting criticism of Philippe Clement with a timely victory over an understrength FCSB side in their third Europa League league phase match at Ibrox tonight.
The Glasgow club’s supporters had reacted furiously to the 1-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday – a result which left them six points behind Celtic and Aberdeen in the William Hill Premiership table.
Many of them even demanded that Clement be sacked in the aftermath of the reverse in Ayrshire.
However, the Belgian oversaw a convincing win, which was secured thanks to a Tom Lawrence opener, a Vaclav Cerny double and a Hamza Igamane strike, over the Romanian champions in Govan this evening to the delight of the home crowd.
With more demanding tests coming up against Olympiacos, Nice and Manchester United away and Spurs and Union Saint-Gilloise at home in the weeks ahead, it was vital that Rangers prevailed in this outing.
They increased their chances of reaching the knockout rounds in impressive fashion. Here are five talking points from the one-sided encounter.
Euro specialist
Welsh internationalist Lawrence is far from a prolific scorer for Rangers. Indeed, his early goal this evening took his total tally in the three seasons he has plied his trade at Ibrox to 11. But European football clearly brings out the very best in the playmaker.
He was on target against Lyon earlier this month and has previously netted against Benfica and PSV Eindhoven. He must wish he could play in continental competition every week. He failed to reappear for the second half and was replaced by Mohamed Diomande.
Raskin takes his chance
Clement made two changes in the wake of the weekend setback – Leon Balogun took over from Robin Propper alongside John Souttar at centre-half and Nicolas Raskin came in to central midfield alongside Connor Barron as Diomande dropped to the bench.
It was widely anticipated the former Club Brugge manager would work well with his countryman Raskin when he arrived in this country around this time last year. But the ex-Standard Liege man has gone backwards. His first team game time has been limited.
Could an individual who was once considered one of the most exciting prospects in his homeland grasp his opportunity and justify his selection in his first European start in exactly a year?
He showed he meant business early on when he forced a fine save from Steau goalkeeper Stefan Tarnovanu with a shot from the edge of the penalty box. He then drew a huge cheer when he tracked back and dispossessed Daniel Birligea in his own half.
Raskin provided a platform for Rangers to perform on and more than played his part in an important win.
Butland blunder
Clement was accused of throwing Jack Butland “under a bus” at Rugby Park on Sunday after he told Sky Sports the Rangers goalkeeper had been “in no man’s land” at the late Marley Watkins winner.
It looked as if the very public criticism had affected the former England player in the second minute when he made an almighty mess of a simple Souttar pass back. He dwelled on the ball too long and allowed David Miculescu to pinch it off him and net.
Butland was very fortunate that Italian referee Marco Di Bello blew his whistle for a foul and disallowed the strike. His hesitancy could have proved costly.
He atoned for his mistake when he tipped a goal-bound Luis Felipe attempt over his crossbar later in the first half. That save allowed Cerny to double the hosts’ advantage just a few minutes later. The winger pounced on a mistake by Felipe and kept his composure to net.
The Czech did well for his second after being supplied by Diomande. He cut inside from the right flank and slotted into the bottom left corner. Igamane then opened his account for the club he joined in the summer after Cyriel Dessers had gone off with an eye problem.
Steau second team
Steau, former winners of the European Cup and Super Cup, are a famous name in the European game. But they are far from the force they were during the communist era despite winning the SuperLiga for the first time in nine years last season and recording victories over Riga at home and PAOK away in the Europa League this term.
Their manager Elias Charalambous positively bristled when he was questioned about their autocratic owner George Becali interfering in his team selections during his pre-match press conference.
The Cypriot insisted that he, and not his employer, felt that domestic affairs were more important than continental concerns. Sure enough, he made no fewer than six changes to the starting line-up which defeated Dinamo in a derby at the weekend. His captain Darus Olaru and vice-captain Adrian Sut were injured and suspended respectively.
That it was a significantly weakened Steau side showed. They were very much second best. Still, there are, as the old football cliché goes, no easy games in Europe.
Bears on best behaviour
The Rangers supporters avoided the suspended ban which UEFA hit their city rivals Celtic with last week despite their extensive use of pyrotechnics – members of the Union Bears ultras group lit flares and fired rockets above the heads of the players on the pitch – at the Lyon game.
But the conduct of a small number of numbskulls resulted in the Ibrox club being hit with a €13,750 fine. They were also forced to fork out €19,000 for a similar incident at the Malmo match in Sweden last month. Those punishments drew a warning from their interim chairman John Gilligan.
“My message is the use of pyrotechnics must stop and stop now at all of our matches home and away,” said Gilligan in a strongly-worded statement on the club website.
The young team clearly heeded his advice. They were in fine voice from kick-off to the final whistle and contributed greatly to the occasion. Hopefully they will realise that incendiary devices are not needed to create an atmosphere.
