RANGERS have work to do in next week’s Ibrox second leg of this Champions League, third qualifying round tie after going down 2-0 to Union Saint-Gilloise in Leuven this evening.
Goals in either half from Teddy Teuma and Dante Vanzier were the difference between the two sides with Gers unable to eat into their lead.
Boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst named four changes to his side - from the team which came from behind to win at Livingston on Saturday, in came James Sands, Ryan Jack, Malik Tillman and Rabbi Matondo in place of John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Ryan Kent and Scott Wright.
That meant Jon McLaughlin was in goal with James Tavernier, John Lundstram, Connor Goldson, Sands and Borna Barisic in front of him.
Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara sat in midfield with, Tillman, Matondo and Antonio Colak in attack.
It was perhaps a measure of the respect Gers have earned in recent seasons that USG were pretty happy to sit and soak up some pressure in the early minutes, albeit the Light Blues were working hard to make that pressure count.
Goalkeeper Anthony Moris made a fine diving save from an excellent Barisic free-kick effort on seven minutes, before he had to look lively to gather a decent, low strike from Sands from 30-yards.
Fine defending at the other end from Goldson prevented Dante Vanzeir from sliding one home on the end of a cross, and that was to serve as a warning for Gers that they wouldn’t heed with the home side hitting the front on 27 minutes.
The visitors just couldn’t clear their lines, and eventually the ball broke for Teddy Teuma in the area to drive a fine strike past McLaughlin from 15-yards.
Colak came close to glancing home a fine Tillman cross into the area, but 1-0 to the hosts is how it remained at the interval.
The early stages of the second half were pretty even, with Bart Nieuwkoop finding the side netting with a driven 25-yard effort on the hour mark in the first real sight of goal in the new period.
The 69th minute saw debuts for Ridvan Yilmaz and Ben Davies, and Gers found some new energy from that.
Nieuwkoop had to smuggle away a Colak cutback when Gers threatened down the right, while McLaughlin had to save well from Vanzeir at the other end.
From that passage of play, a lengthy VAR check followed, with Goldson eventually punished for a handball, and the penalty was awarded to the hosts.
That man Vanzier took the kick, and sent McLaughlin the wrong way for 2-0.
The goalkeeper had to be lively to deny Vanzier a third when he broke clear, and 2-0 is how it finished leaving the Light Blues with work to do in front of what is sure to be a fervent Ibrox in a week’s time.
RANGERS: McLaughlin, Tavernier, Goldson, Sands, Barisic (Ridvan, 69), Lundstram, Jack (Davies, 69), Kamara, Tillman (Lawrence, 77), Matondo (Wright, 77), Colak.
SUBS: McGregor, McCrorie, King, Devine, Davis, Arfield, Fashion Jr.
UNION SAINT-GILLOISE: Morls, Nieuwkoop, Burgess, Sykes, Van der Heyden, Amani, Teuma, Lynen, Lapoussin, Vanzier, Adingra.
SUBS: Pirard, Imbrechts, Boone, Ziani, Machiada, Francois, Puertas, Dony, El Azzouzi
REFEREE: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia)
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