IN the city the locals refer to as Light Town Rangers kept switching off.That’s why this became a dark night in Eindhoven.
Connor Goldson at full timeCredit: Willie Vass
PSV Eindhoven’s Joey Veerman celebrates the winCredit: PA
Rangers applaud fans at full time after what was a humbling resultCredit: Willie Vass
It’s PSV who’ll get to shine in the Champions League this season after this dazzling win.
The Dutch club got the revenge they were looking for from last season with two goals from Ismael Saibari as well as strikes from Luuk De Jong, Joey Veerman as well as an embarrassing OG from Connor Goldson.
Rangers’ goal from James Tavernier gave their 2000 supporters a brief cause for celebration.
All of two minutes.
It was just all too much for Michael Beale’s side with their dire defending at key moments seeing their £20million dream of reaching the group stages disappear.
The reality for Rangers right now is that the Europa League is their level as they now have to wait until Friday to see who they’ll be up against in that competition.
No-one could fault the effort they put into reaching the Champions League for the second year running.
It wasn’t like they settled for the Europa League which was always there waiting for them as a fall-back.
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Not that any of that took away any of the disappointment of last night. As the final whistle could be heard some Rangers players fell to their knees, shattered in every way possible.
The travelling fans, too, looked gutted by it all.
Beale’s line-up would have raised eyebrows among those who journeyed to the Netherlands.
Luuk de Jong of PSV Eindhoven celebrates his priceless goalCredit: Getty
It was a humbling scoreline at the endCredit: Willie Vass
Rabbi Matondo looked a cert to begin the night on the bench and be the manager’s back-up plan if and when he needed him.
But no. Matondo started ahead of Abdallah Sima.
Clearly the goalscoring impact the Wales international made as a substitute in the first-leg at Ibrox thrust him to the forefront of Beale’s mind.
It was a gamble worth taking with Sima hardly pulling up trees since his arrival.
The other change to the team that kicked off at Ibrox was the inclusion of John Lundstram which came at the expense of Ryan Jack.
Beale’s thinking there was that the Englishman’s ball-hunting ability would bring more to the team. But that wasn’t how it panned out.
There were encouraging signs for Rangers initially.
But it wasn’t long before the home side were dominant.
Rangers became far too slack in possession in the first-half and opportunities to hit PSV on the break were wasted with painfully poor final balls.
The Dutch side had far more composure where it mattered.
Johan Bakayoko was a major threat on the right, Noa Lang every bit as dangerous on the left.
Ismael Saibari of PSV Eindhoven celebrates after scoring his team’s goal for 2-0Credit: Getty
There were close calls before PSV took the lead.
De Jong should have scored with a back post header after 20 minutes before Jack Butland saved with his legs to keep out a shot from Saibari.
Rangers did have a glimpse of goal around that time but Cyriel Dessers used an arm to control a brilliant long ball from Connor Goldson and pulled his effort wide anyway.
It was that kind of night for the big striker who continues to underwhelm in a light blue jersey.
When it came to the opener Rangers really should have defended the situation better.
But it came during a sustained period of pressure and when Joey Veerman clipped a cross into the six yard box from the bye-line big Saibari couldn’t miss.
Could John Souttar have moved his feet quicker? Could Nico Raskin have blocked the attacker’s run? As it was, both players will probably feel they could have done more in that key moment.
It has gone from bad to worse for Rangers! 😬Connor Goldson passes it back past the keeper into his own net giving PSV a 5-1 lead… 😳#UCL pic.twitter.com/OdryuWeP9T— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 30, 2023
There were 34 minutes on the clock at that point and the half-time whistle couldn’t come quickly enough for Beale’s side.
But PSV came back out after the break with exactly the same energy and will to win.
And just eight minutes after the restart Rangers were trailing by two.
This time skipper De Jong did superbly to fire a back-post cross back across goal for Saibari to score his second of the night with an easy tap-in.
It felt like game over there and then.
But in 64 minutes Tavernier breathed new hope into Rangers chances with a poacher’s goal after sub Sam Lammers delivered a good cross to the back post.
Suddenly the dream was back on for Rangers.
But within just two minutes PSV had restored their two goal lead with the defending from Rangers once again not good enough.
From a free-kick De Jong got between Lammers and Tavernier to nod the ball past Kammers.
Even then Rangers had chances to score again and again, Matondo having one effort blocked and another one rattle the post.
But with 12 minutes to go PSV turned the screw with Veerman firing through a crowded penalty box to make it 4-1 on the night.
It wasn’t over yet, though, with the worse goal yet to come.
In 81 minutes Goldson scored a horrendous own goal when he over-hit a passback to Butland.
The sight of the ex-England No1 chasing the ball and diving into the back of his own net was just cruel.
By the time the final whistle came the chants from the home fans rubbed salt in the wounds of the Rangers players.
And during PSV’s on the pitch celebrations there was some anger among the Rangers side with Todd Cantwell clearly raging with something that had been said or done.
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But by then it was all over bar the shouting.
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