{"id":295259,"date":"2023-10-05T20:24:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T20:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=295259"},"modified":"2023-10-05T20:24:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T20:24:32","slug":"aris-limassol-2-1-rangers-more-misery-is-piled-on-scottish-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/aris-limassol-2-1-rangers-more-misery-is-piled-on-scottish-giants\/","title":{"rendered":"Aris Limassol 2-1 Rangers: More misery is piled on Scottish giants"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Aris Limassol 2-1 Rangers: More misery is piled on Scottish giants as they are beaten in Europa League group stage by Cypriot champions in Steven Davis&#8217; first game in interim charge<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Rangers travelled to Cyprus\u00a0to play against Aris Limassol in the Europa League<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>It was Steven Davis&#8217; first game in interim charge after Michael Beale was sacked<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off&#8217;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For Rangers, the face directing play from the technical area may have changed but the Ibrox club\u2019s woes remain firmly in place.<\/p>\n<p>The Europa League may have been a brief haven away from home discomforts for Michael Beale, courtesy of 1-0 win over Real Betis on match day one.<\/p>\n<p>But the competition proved less kind to Steven Davis here in Cyprus as he made his bow as interim manager in a dire loss to an average Aris Limassol side.<\/p>\n<p>Goals in either half from Alex Moucketou-Moussounda and Shavy Babicka before a late consolation from Abdallah Sima secured a deserved win for the hosts on a dry, poor pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Yet it would be unfair to be overly critical of Davis. He can only work with the tools at his disposal and his tools are blunt.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/20\/76219879-0-image-a-18_1696532941912.jpg\" height=\"379\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rangers were beaten 2-1 by Aris Limassol in the Europa League group stage on Thursday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/19\/76217547-0-image-a-10_1696529765448.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Alex Moucketou-Moussounda opened the scoring for Aris, who are the Cypriot champions<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old altered the shape of the team from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 and changed personnel in the wake of the 3-1 loss to Aberdeen at a mutinous Ibrox on Saturday that spelled the end for Beale.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite his attempts to address the team\u2019s lack of pace, width, creativity and killer-instinct the same old problems were here for all to see.<\/p>\n<p>Once again fingers will be pointed at Beale\u2019s underwhelming rebuild with Sam Lammers and Cyriel Dessers up front yet to show exactly why they were brought to the club.<\/p>\n<p>Sima\u2019s goal return since his loan from Brighton may be decent but he is an inconsistent and erratic performer.<\/p>\n<p>A further damning indictment of Rangers\u2019 summer\u2019s business was a start here for Scott Wright.<\/p>\n<p>So far out the picture he was caught on camera ahead of a proposed summer move to Turkish side Pendikspor, the former Aberdeen winger did not prove the answer on the flanks.<\/p>\n<p>Wider problems within this Rangers side are that key players like James Tavernier, Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson John Lundstram have seen their form fall off a cliff after being cornerstones of the run to the final of the Europa League last year.<\/p>\n<p>As Rangers step up their hunt for a new permanent boss they better hope their lengthy injury list eases off and quickly with Celtic seven points above in the Premiership.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Todd Cantwell, Danilo, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo, Ridvan Yilmaz and Kieran Dowell are all on the Ibrox treatment table.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/20\/76218541-0-image-a-17_1696532864332.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gabonese forward Shavy Babicka added a second for Aris midway through the second half<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/20\/76220121-0-image-a-20_1696533375410.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Steven Davis was in charge of his first game as interim boss after Michael Beale&#8217;s sacking<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/20\/76219805-0-image-a-19_1696533096566.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Abdallah Sima pulled a goal back for Rangers but they couldn&#8217;t complete a comeback<\/p>\n<p>But in a boost, Belgian midfielder Nico Raskin was back for the first time since September, joining Wright and Barisic in the team in place of the injured Jack and Yilmaz, and the dropped Jose Cifuentes; another summer signing struggling to make his mark.<\/p>\n<p>But it took just nine minutes for the optimism of a new era under Davis \u2014 regardless of how brief it will prove \u2014 to become punctured.<\/p>\n<h3>MATCH FACTS\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>Aris Limassol (4-2-3-1): <\/span>Vana; Boakye (Brorsson 80), Yago, Moucketou-Moussounda, Urosevic; Struski (Brown 67), Sz\u00f6ke; Mayambela, Gomis (Stepinski 89), Bengtsson (Kokorin 67), Babicka (Spoljaric 89)<\/p>\n<p><span>Subs not used: <\/span>Dimitriou, Montnor, Chrysostomou, Sofroniou<\/p>\n<p><span>Manager:\u00a0<\/span>Aleksey Shpilevski<\/p>\n<p><span>Rangers (4-2-3-1):<\/span> Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic; Lundstram, Raskin (Cifuentes 68); Wright (McCausland 84), Lammers (Roofe 68), Sima, Dessers<\/p>\n<p><span>Subs not used:<\/span> Souttar, Sterling, McCrorie, Wright, King, Devine, Fraser, Lyall, McKinnon<\/p>\n<p><span>Manager:<\/span>\u00a0Steven Davis\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Aris had already threatened once when Yannick Gomis found Mihali Mayambela but his shot was turned around for a corner by Jack Butland.<\/p>\n<p>However, from a short corner, Leo Bengtsson\u2019s cross was glanced home by the head of Moucketou-Moussounda with Goldson looking at fault.<\/p>\n<p>Almost immediately, Sima raced clear on the left but he hit a weak square ball when he could have attempted to lob Aris keeper Vana.<\/p>\n<p>Rangers were all over the place and Bengtsson should have made it 2-0 when Mayambela\u2019s cutback left him with the goal at his mercy. But he skied a horrible finish over the relieved Butland\u2019s bar.<\/p>\n<p>When Rangers finally worked their way into a good position, Lammers caught sight of goal but he hit a tame effort at Vana.<\/p>\n<p>The visitors did have the ball in the net when Sima played in Dessers and he held off his marker before firing past Vana.<\/p>\n<p>The flag was swiftly raised for offside and after a lengthy VAR check referee Horatiu Fesnic confirmed it was no goal.<\/p>\n<p>It was a really tight call and Dessers, who looks a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders after being jeered off against Aberdeen on Saturday, looked crestfallen.<\/p>\n<p>Davis and his experienced assistant Alex Rae had used the VAR break to speak to Wright and within moments he had fired a dangerous ball across goal.<\/p>\n<p>But the winger was lucky to escape injury when caught by a heavy challenge by goalscorer Moucketou-Moussounda and afterwards he slowly faded from the match.<\/p>\n<p>The closest Rangers came to an equaliser in the first half was a Sima header from an out swinging Barisic corner but it was tame and straight at Vana.<\/p>\n<p>After surviving a VAR check for a penalty, with Aris adamant Sima had handled, referee Fesnic called an end to a poor first half from the Ibrox side.<\/p>\n<p>Presumably Davis and Rae had a few choice words to say to the players in the dressing room.<\/p>\n<p>And after the break, Rangers soon had their best effort on goal when Sima\u2019s fierce shot stung the palms of Vana. But as the hapless Dessers tried to control the ball he used an arm and the flag went up.<\/p>\n<p>And it got worse for Rangers when Bengtsson raced in behind Tavernier and the backtracking Lundstram and put the ball on a plate for Babicka to slot past the helpless Butland.<\/p>\n<p>Sima gave the Ibrox side and their 1700 travelling fans some hope when his fine header from a Lundstram cross flew past Vana for 2-1.<\/p>\n<p>But it required a super save from the ever-impressive Butland to stop substitute Aleksandr Korkorin finding a third goal that would have been no more than Aris deserved.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/19\/76217561-0-image-a-12_1696529772531.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>It was another loss for Rangers, who continue to struggle so far during the 2023-24 season<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/19\/76217559-0-image-a-13_1696529777152.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The result leaves the Scottish giants third in their group, but all four teams have three points<\/p>\n<p>For Rangers, three blasts of Fesnic\u2019s whistle brought to an end a chastening evening in the Alphamega Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the noise in this little Limassol ground is generated by a trombone and saxophone combo playing hits like Rasputin by Boney M, backed by a timpani section.<\/p>\n<p>One of European football\u2019s most intimidating cathedrals it is not. The curious little band struck up again at full time as Aris celebrated a famous victory.<\/p>\n<p>It was another reminder of how far Rangers have fallen since their remarkable run to the final in Seville under Giovanni van Bronckhorst 17 months ago.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12599521\/Aris-Limassol-2-1-Rangers-misery-piled-Scottish-giants-beaten-Europa-League-group-stage-Cypriot-champions-Steven-Davis-game-interim-charge.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aris Limassol 2-1 Rangers: More misery is piled on Scottish giants as they are beaten in Europa League group stage <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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