Djeidi Gassama took the claim of the Ibrox crowd as his two goals sent the Gers on their way – adding to his strikes both home and away in the previous qualifying round against Panathinaikos – while Cyriel Dessers struck for the first time this season from the penalty spot.
It was an evening where Oliver Antman, signed yesterday from Go Ahead Eagles, announced himself to the Rangers fans with a dazzling performance, while there were impressive showings from back to front as the Light Blues edged closer to the Play-Off Round but knowing fine well there is still a job to be done in Plzen next week.
The boss named four changes to his side from Saturday’s draw in Lanarkshire, with Antman, registered in time after being announced as a Rangers player 24 hours ago, coming straight in for his debut alongside Jefte, Lyall Cameron and Dessers.
Rangers set out their stall less 60 seconds into the contest when neat interplay between Jefte and Gassama unleashed the former Sheffield Wednesday wide man down the left, although his subsequent delivery from the byline was swept up by Florian Wiegele in the Plzen goal.
Martin urged his side pre-match to show a strong response to the disappointment of Saturday’s league opener and they were certainly on the front foot in the opening exchanges.
A move drawn up on the training pitch almost bore fruit moments later when a gorgeous defence-splitting pass from Max Aarons was stood up into the penalty area by debutant Antman and almost headed goalwards by Gassama if not for the intervention of Sampson Dweh.
And it merely proved the precursor for the goal which broke the deadlock on 14 minutes. It was Gassama who picked up the ball on the left, feeding a straight pass into Dessers dropping off the forward line. Indeed, it was an intelligent off-the-ball run from Cameron which engineered the space for the Nigerian to delay his return pass, picking the right moment to find Gassama floating dangerously into the penalty area and the summer arrival made no mistake in curling beyond the Viktoria Plzen goalkeeper.
The Czech outfit had been a limited attacking threat but almost offered an immediate riposte when Matej Vydra unleashed from 10 yards out and was thwarted only by an outstanding defensive block by Nasser Djiga.
Still, the momentum truly belonged to the home side and it was almost a dream moment for Antman on his first Gers start when he swept goalwards from a Gassama pull-back – engineered by a neat slide rule pass from Cameron in midfield – but was lamenting a heroic goalline clearance from Vaclav Jemelka.
The Finnish international’s quality was abundant in a hugely impressive opening period, which was capped off by his starting and ending of the move which won the spot-kick on the stroke of the half-time interval.
Gassama, again, was at the heart of the action, springing the hosts forward from Antman’s initial pass and guiding a lovely return pass through to the 23-year-old who bore down and goal was fouled in the process of pulling the trigger by Vydra.
From 12 yards Dessers made no mistake, sending the goalkeeper in the wrong direction and concluding a thrilling half of sumptuous football.
Any lingering hopes from the Czech visitors that the Light Blues would relent after the restart were quickly quashed when a neat move from out-to-in saw Dessers lay the ball into Mohamed Diomande whose first-time curling effort on his left side cannoned off the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Rangers had their third.
Again, it was engineered by a pass from Aarons – this time inside his own half – down the inside channel in search of Antman who flew into the space and delivered a first-time cross into the danger area where Gassama lurked with intent at the far post to nod home.
It was a classic winger-to-winger goal which has come to define positional play sides over the last decade and Ibrox was more than happy to reserve a special roar of appreciation for the newly-formed wing play duo down by the near-side corner flag.
Cameron then sent a dangerous delivery into the penalty area from a wide position that Dessers nodded off target from 12 yards out, before the midfielder was withdrawn to a standing ovation from the Ibrox crowd after a marvellous first Gers start.
The three-goal advantage appeared in no real danger as Plzen continued to lick their wounds, with the return leg in seven days’ time requiring a professional display from Martin’s side to seal their place in the Play-Off Round.
RANGERS: Butland, Aarons (Tavernier, 73), Djiga, Souttar, Jefte, Rothwell (Raskin, 63), Diomande, Cameron (Barron, 73), Antman (Curtis, 84), Gassama, Dessers (Danilo, 72)
Subs not used: Kelly, Cortes, Bajrami, Dowell, Fernandez, Rice, Gentles
VIKTORIA PLZEN: Wiegele, Dweh, Markovic, Jemelka, Memic, Panos (Valenta, 45), Cerv, Ladra (Visinsky, 55), Spacil (Doski, 87), Vydra (Sloncik, 55), Durosinmi (Adu, 63)
Subs not used: Tvrdon, Silhavy, Kabongo, Souare, Paluska, Havel