Rangers 3 vs. Dundee Utd 1 – CIS Cup Q/F
Rangers put out their conquerors in the competition last season with a comfortable 3-1 win achieved with largely their fringe players. Goals from Rossi (finally), O’Connor and a Viana free-kick cancelled out Montecinos’ first half strike. Rangers will play Celtic’s conqueror Aberdeen in the semi final at Pittodrie.
Rangers 4 vs. Aberdeen 1
First half goals from Elmander and Lee Martin’s 1st of the season combined with a second half double from Sionko in another comfortable win for the champions. The veteran Czech was in superb form for Rangers, creating Martin’s goal in addition to scoring his own.
Steve Lovell scored the consolation for Aberdeen, as Rangers increased their lead to 10 points thanks to Celtic’s draw at Dunfermline. Hudgson was more pleased with Celtic’s result than their own
‘We don’t really need to concern ourselves with the league at the moment. Celtic keep finding ways to increase our lead for us, Europe is the only real challenge at the moment. The league is taking care of itself. The problem will be keeping the players motivated and sharp for Europe with the league proving so unchallenging at the moment.’ Rangers 2 vs. Olympiakos 0 – CL Group Phase
A home win coupled with Arsenal failing to beat Chievo would see Rangers win the group. They duly got that as second half goals from Dagoberto and a Viana penalty coupled with Chievo’s stunning 3-0 over Arsenal saw Rangers secure their position as winners of Group E.
A marvellous performance from this side in their first exploits in the top competition and they travel to London in a fortnight with no pressure on them at all. Hudgson intimated he will give other players a run-out.
‘I expected us to win tonight, and we did enough. I have to admit though I’m surprised at Chievo’s win. Squad players will get a chance to play in London, but not a completely different side as we still want to get something from the game. To go through undefeated would be something.’
Not so much good news for Rangers, but good for Scottish football as the following night Celtic picked up 3 points meaning they will join their rivals in the knockout phase, a marvellous achievement for the SPL.
Motherwell 0 vs. Rangers 2
Another day, another 3 league points for the champions. A first league goal for Rossi and Thomas Vermaelen’s maiden goal of the campaign saw off a determined Motherwell side.
The opener came on 11 minutes. Rossi, who has endured a less than stellar spell at the club, controlled LuaLua’s cross brilliantly with his first touch before lashing the ball into the net. There have been no such problems fro Vermaelen this season, the 20 year old performing brilliantly once again. He added a goal to his defensive prowess on 28 minutes, half-volleying home Lee Martin’s driven corner. Motherwell pushed hard after half-time but a combination of good defending and some smart saves from Klos saw Rangers maintain their 10 point cushion over 2nd placed Celtic.
Rangers 3 vs. Dundee Utd 1
The visit of United saw Elmander missing with a slight knock, so Dagoberto returned to partner Rossi up front. Lee Martin was rested, as Charlie Adam returned ahead of his likely involvement against Arsenal.
It took two goals in the last two minutes to spare Rangers’ blushes on a day they were guilty of missing a hatful of chances. The home side started slowly and went behind on five minutes when Alessandro Fusco beat Klos a little too easily at the near post.
It took until the hour mark for Rangers to draw level when Dagoberto’s floated cross was met with a sweet volley by Sionko to make it 1-1. Rangers continued to fluff opportunities but the 2nd goal eventually came. Dagoberto was again the supplier, as his through ball sent Rossi away and the little Italian made no mistake on 89 minutes to the delight of the crowd. Rossi returned the favour for his front partner in injury time when he was again put through, but this time drew the keeper and squared it to the Brazilian who made no mistake. No Rangers officials commented post-match.
Arsenal 6 vs. Rangers 0 – CL Group Phase
As promised by the manager, some squad players got the chance to experience European action. Bakx, Murray, Rodriguez, Svensson, and Prso were among those included. These moves were perhaps ill-advised as Rangers were absolutely thrashed by a rampant Gunners side. Thierry Henry got a ridiculous 4 goals, with Adebayor and Ljungberg the other goalscorers. It could all have been very different though if on 18 minutes Hugo Viana’s ‘goal’ that would have made it 1-1 was allowed, having been ruled out by an offside decision that was very, very marginal at best.
Hudgson was unsurprisingly unhappy post-match
‘Arsenal were superb today so I’ve no complaints about the defeat. What was disappointing was the complete capitulation of the side. These squad players had a chance today to show me they can be valuable assets if and when they are needed and none of them did so today. I would expect no complaints from any of these players if they are not selected when they perform this poorly when handed a chance. ‘ Rangers 6 vs. Hearts 0
Hudgson let his actions speak as loud as his words, changing the entire starting XI from the midweek debacle. This include Klos being dumped in favour of McGregor in goal. The game that followed capped an incredible three days for the club, as they followed a 6-0 defeat with a 6-0 win.
Rossi, Elmander and Dagoberto were deployed together and it had the desired effect, with Rossi scoring and the Swede grabbing a hat-trick. Elmander kicked things off on 27 minutes when Cicinho’s low ball found him unmarked in the penalty area. Eight minutes later it was a double when Rossi’s cross found him and he rose above his marker to powerfully head home.
On 38 minutes Cicinho had his first Rangers goal. Martin’s cross seemed too deep, eluding everyone but fell perfectly for the full-back who steadied himself and rifled the ball home. In injury time Rossi added his name to the scoresheet. Sionko’s throw was flicked on by Martin perfectly for the striker who finished easily.
Elmander completed the hat-trick five minutes after the break, getting onto Steven Smith’s cross. Barry Ferguson rounded things off ten minutes from time with a trademark long-range effort to cap a display that left the manager delighted.
‘After Wednesday is shows marvellous character to come back and do that today. Admittedly it was a different set of lads, but that result shakes the whole group so it’s good to get our confidence back up so quickly. The front 3 have been playing so well recently I couldn’t really leave one out so decided to try something different. It worked well today so we may try it more often, possibly even in the derby next week.’ 
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