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Unirea Urziceni v Rangers: Champions League live

Live text coverage of Unirea Urziceni v Rangers in Champions League group G. Fraser Cardow will be here to guide you through the highs and lows of the evening. Hopefully more highs than lows.

04 November 2009 18:24 GMT

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Full time Unirea Urziceni 1-1 Rangers

There’s great disappointment in the dressing room; we let it slip. I said to them: “we let ourselves down in the first match.” That’s the thing that has cost us more than anything else.

Hopefully we can still go ahead and put ourselves in with a chance. Obviously it is going to be far more difficult for us now. – Walter Smith

92 mins Another corner for Fleck, and another. It breaks out and both teams are sprinting on adrenaline as the chance to win this match becomes tangeable. Stuttgart have equalised in Seville and it's a corner for Unirea.

90 mins Corner for Rangers. Fleck delivers a cross to the back post where Papac, among others, fluffs a chance to steal the match.

87 mins The equaliser. What a peach. Onofras takes possession of a fine long ball, takes one touch then strikes a perfect shot into the top left corner. McGregor was helpless.

86 mins Fleck gets the chance to feed Novo early on but his ball is just too far for the Spaniard.

85 mins Kevin Thomson is replaced by John Fleck.

81 mins The Rangers support, who represent a large slice of the crowd, are going loco as the management teams both go to work. Off go Varga and Vilana for Paduretu and Semedo for Unirea. Miller is replaced by Nacho Novo.

78 mins The ball breaks for Lee McCulloch who shields the challenge before hitting a solid shot on goal. The ball bounces in front, and under, Arlauskis to give Rangers the lead.

76 mins Elsewhere in the group Sevilla are beating Stuttgart 1-0 at home. That's good news for Rangers as the Germans stay within reach among the bottom feeders.

73 mins Weir heads away to clear a dangerous situation. The old defender taking no chances there. Unirea get the throw, then work a corner out of a dodgy linesman decision.The clearance is chipped back in and Varga beats the offside trap, making space to fire in a shot from a tight angle but McGregor is up the task.

I can see Rangers lose this in the last 10 minutes - Graeme, Glasgow

70 mins Another good save from McGregor after a glancing header from no-where nearly catches him out.

68 mins Yellow card for Bilasco. Serves him right too. He loses out to young Wilson and goes to ground, arching like a spawning salmon. Booked for diving.

65 mins Will there be some Rangers substitutes soon? Remember, Rangers need a win to stay in the Champions League.

63 mins Back up the other end the home side win a free kick from distance but in these conditions it's a real threat. The defence does well to clear.

62 mins A golden chance for Kenny Miller is wasted with a poor shot. Wow, deja vu... has that happened before? The Rangers striker works a good one-two and gets the ball five yards out. His insistence on a right foot shot means he's left squeezing a side footer at goal, straight at the keeper. What a waste.

59 mins Shaky stuff... The Unirea left back Brandan is causing it in the Rangers box and Whittaker fails to clear, all of a sudden the attackers have numbers but some last gasp challenges clear the danger.

56 mins The crowd, and Dan Petrescu, are going mental after another meaty challenge on Onofras by Papac. Nothing in it really.

55 mins McCulloch flicks on to Naismith as he runs into the box but the Rangers man goes down under the covering challenge. Any hope of a penalty is short lived.

52 mins Rangers seem determined to make something of this second half. Miller, Thomson and Naismith are making inroads up the left wing but there's a wall of white shirts. Better from Unirea who are finding space more easily.

50 mins Onofras is hussled off the ball by McCulloch, whose left arm delivers an accidentally hefty clip to the head.

47 mins The match is back on. Thomson sends in a harmless free kick from deep on the right. The home defence is soaking up the pressure from the red shirted Glasgow side too easily.

The Rangers support are fighting with the stewards and police in the Steaua Stadium. A group of around 20 fans are tussling with batons and pepper spray in scenes which will bring more shame on the club's support.

It's threatening to be the 4-1 all over again. All well until it falls apart - Barry T, Dalry

Not bad from Rangers. I like the look of the new boy Wilson in defence, but we can't rely on the ancient Weir and the Rangers youth. We need new signings in defence - James, Glasgow

Half time - Unirea Urziceni 0-0 Rangers

43 mins Great move from Rangers. McCulloch slips a ball through to Miller who sends a neat flick on to Lafferty. The Northern Irishman shows fast feet to ping a looping shot at goal, just a foot wide.

42 mins Walter Smith's side are beginning to rely on the long ball out of defence and it's not working. Meanwhile Unirea are knocking it about with increasing abandon.

37 mins Jings crivens. McGregor nearly gets lobbed from 45-yards out on the right wing.

34 mins Varga is slipped the ball 12 yards out and fires a shot across the face of goal. Rangers are living dangerously...

32 mins What a save. Allan McGregor shows why he's one of the best with an arching, stretching, finger-tip save. I was sure that was in. The home side are beginning to find space in the Rangers box.

29 mins It's all go. McGregor makes a great save to deny Maftei from the free-kick then Miller takes the ball for a walk into the Unirea box. The striker ignores Naismith's screams and gets a decent shot on target. He's not got much to work with, Miller.

29 mins Substitution: Onofras on for Balan

28 mins Yellow card for Lafferty. The big winger opts for a sliding challenge from behind to earn his booking. It was pretty pointless since there there were five other defenders in attendance.

25 mins Rangers are pressing up the park with McCulloch, Naismith and Whittaker linking well in the middle. Naismith gets a header on target. Strong stuff from Rangers.

23 mins Franza steps away from Papac to get in a cross to Bilasco on the front post; he gets in ahead of Wilson but his header is two yards wide.

20 mins It's helter skelter out there. Both sides struggling to keep control; both are pretty bullish as they force the ball around the rapidly deteriorating pitch. 

18 mins Whittaker sends in a deep cross to Naismith and the wee man gets his header on target, forcing Arlauskisto paw the ball out. The Romanians are back on the attack quickly.

15 mins The Unirea long ball is finding success as the white shirts hold up the ball. Wilson and Weir are going to have their work cut out to dominate their defence against this confident team.

12 mins Apostol shows his studs in the challenge and Rangers have a chance from 30 yards out. Thomson hits it round the wall with pace and Arlauskis fluffs the save. Rangers have a corner but it's cleared without incident.

9 mins Papac gets turned at the corner flag and Unirea keep up a spell of pressure. The Gers have made a couple of basic mistakes in defence already.

6 mins With the ball sticking on the heavy surface there's plenty of chance for some slick passing. The ball has been kept on the deck so far.

3 mins Brandan fouls Naismith on the edge of the box but it fizzles out. Rangers defence mops up the counter attack easily.

2 mins Bright start for Rangers. Steven Naismith has obviously had his porridge and is hussling hard. The red shirts of Rangers are pouring forward and the winger is driving inside.

Kick-off 0 mins The home side are lining up 4-3-3. They welcome back keeper Arlauskis but their back four has been shuffled thanks to an injury for Ibrox goalscorer Bruno Fernandez.

19.43 Davie Weir leads Rangers out of the tunnel and into the near freezing Romanian night. The open stadium is half full out and ringing with the ubiquitious Champions League music.

19.17 It's been raining cats and dogs out in Romania and the Steaua Staduim in Bucharest is sodden wet. The venue was switched in anticipation of a bigger crowd and it's a cosy 27,500 capacity in Bucharest.

19.11 It's the silent but deadly 4-1-4-1 again for Rangers. McCulloch will slot in front of Whittaker, new boy Wilson, Weir and Papac. In the midfield proper it's Naismith, Davis, Thomson and Lafferty and Kenny Miller takes on the lone striker role.

19.09 Rangers: Rangers: McGregor 1, Weir 3, Papac 5, McCulloch 6, Davis 7, Thomson 8, Naismith 14, Whittaker 16, Miller 18, Lafferty 27, Wilson 66

Bench: N. Alexander 25, Boyd 9, Novo 10, Rothen 11, Beasley 20, Smith 26, Fleck 29

19.04 Unirea: Arlauskis 1, Galamaz 6, Bilasco 7, Varga 9, Ricardo Vilana 18, Brandan 19, Balan 21, Bordeanu 23, Maftei 24, Frunza 30, Apostol 32

Bench: Tudor 74, Mehmedovic 4, Paraschiv 8, Paduretu 10, Onofras 11, Nicu 16, Semedo 17

18.50 The last night of Champions League football featuring Rangers produced a healthy 29 goals; sadly for Walter Smith’s side four of those were against them.

So what now? Thoughts turn to Champions League survival and prospects of the Europa League, so points are vital. Will Smith opt for all out attack in order to clinch some desperately needed points or will he go for his tried and increasingly unreliable 4-1-4-1 to pinch a point?

Rangers team news: Rangers will play rookie defender Danny Wilson in the centre of defence along with David Weir tonight with Madjid Bougherra still out with his knee injury. Pedro Mendes, Kirk Broadfoot and Maurice Edu are all also missing.

Lee McCulloch has come through an injury scare and should feature in the midfield.

Rangers: (from) McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, McCulloch, Lafferty, Davis, Thomson, Rothen, Novo, Naismith, Miller, Beasley, Smith, Fleck, Boyd, Wilson, Alexander.


 

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  1. Default avatar

    1. 04 Nov 2009 20:36Toots said

    Rangers won't win the game by punting the ball forward. Get it into the midfield and take a bit of time. Miller is doing well but he needs support.

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