One Rangers player’s performance in the 4-1 defeat to Lyon was lambasted by the watching media on a terrible night at Ibrox for Philippe Clement’s side.
Rangers humbled by Lyon in Europe
The Gers enjoyed seeing rivals Celtic thumped 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund earlier in the week, but the hope was that they could show the Scottish Premiership off in a better light when Lyon made the trip to Ibrox for a Europa League clash on Thursday evening.
Instead, Clement’s side were comprehensively beaten on their own turf, succumbing to a 4-1 defeat and looking another level down in quality from their opponents. Tom Lawrence equalised in the first half, but from that point on, the Ligue 1 outfit pulled clear and deservedly picked up all three points.
It was an awful night for Clement and his players, with the Belgian no doubt likely to find himself under more pressure to keep his job, following a hit-and-miss start to the season across all competitions.
Rangers are already five points adrift of Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race, and only narrowly won 1-0 at home to Hibernian last weekend, with the visitors missing a penalty.
Rangers star’s performance vs Lyon slammed
There were so many players who underperformed for the Gers against Lyon, but one individual who has come in for more criticism than most is James Tavernier.
The Rangers captain was miles below his best, with Rangers News even giving him a 2/10 player rating, claiming he was given a “torrid time” throughout the night.
Meanwhile, The Scotsman could only hand him a four, saying: “Missed a very early chance that ought to have put Rangers in front. Struggled to deal with the sheer pace and trickery of the Lyon backline and was beaten by Fofana at the far post for Lyon’s fourth goal. Replaced on hour mark by Kasanwirjo.”
Give Me Sport said there were “question marks” around his defending while Glasgow World handed him a 3/10: “Poor positioning and too slow to react at the back post for Fofana to net Lyon’s fourth. Unable to keep tabs on Fofana and given the run-around all evening.”
Tavernier has been an unbelievable servant for Rangers down the years, producing remarkable levels of consistency and end product going forward, but the negativity towards him after the Lyon defeat feels warranted. The £30,000-a-week ace was so poor that he was substituted on the hour mark, but he still had time to lose possession on 12 different occasions, highlighting his wasteful nature on the ball, which can be punished in European competition.
Tavernier also completed just 70% of his passes and made zero tackles or clearances, as well as being dribbled past once, with his defensive frailties exposed at times. Every player has an off day and this was one such occasion for Tavernier, and the key now is for him to show his leadership and bounce back this weekend, with Rangers hosting St Johnstone in the league on Sunday night.
At 32, there will inevitably be some supporters who will claim that the Englishman’s best days are now behind him, and it is up to the Gers skipper to prove them wrong.
