Russell Martin’s bold team selection paid off as Rangers defeated Viktoria Plzen 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie at Ibrox.
Martin hit out at some of his squad following their deflating 1-1 draw at Motherwell on Saturday, questioning mentality, egos and application and the captain, James Tavernier, and the midfielder Nicolas Raskin were the biggest names among the expected changes.
Martin got the required reaction as the winger Djeidi Gassama scored after 15 minutes before the returning striker Cyriel Dessers added a second from the spot just before the interval.
Gassama, signed this summer from Sheffield Wednesday, scored his side’s third in the 51st minute to put the Govan side into a commanding lead and eventually a comfortable win.
Rangers will be heavy favourites to progress to a playoff tie against the Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg or Club Brugge of Belgium.
After pointing the finger at his underperformers at the weekend, all eyes were on Martin’s team selection and he made significant changes. Along with Tavernier and Raskin – arguably their best player last season – Danilo and Kieran Dowell were left out.
Oliver Antman, the Finland winger who joined from Go Ahead Eagles on Monday, made his debut with the left-back Jefté, the midfielder Lyall Cameron and Dessers returning while John Souttar was named captain.
The Ibrox crowd was more subdued than usual on a big European night, initially. In the seventh minute Plzen’s lofty striker Rafiu Durosinmi headed a cross from Amar Memic past the post but it was Gassama who struck first, playing a one-two with Dessers at the edge of the visitors’ box before confidently curling the ball past the goalkeeper Florian Wiegele.
After the Rangers defender Nasser Djiga brilliantly blocked a goal-bound shot from the visiting captain Matej Vydra, Antman’s drive from a Gassama cut-back at the other end was cleared off the line by Vaclav Jemelka.
Bizarrely Raskin, warming up on the sidelines, was booked by the French referee Clément Turpin for apparently trying to interfere at a Plzen throw-in as the Czech side began to exert some pressure. However, when a driving run into the box by Antman ended with him being barged over by Vydra, Turpin pointed to the spot for a soft penalty and Dessers sent Wiegele the wrong way.
Rangers started the second half strongly and within three minutes the midfielder Mohamed Diomande struck the bar with an effort from the edge of the box.
However, the third soon arrived as Gassama grabbed his second when he bulleted in a header from a pinpoint Antman cross from the right to score his fourth goal in the past three European matches.
Raskin, Danilo, and Tavernier all came off the bench when the job was done before the home keeper Jack Butland made a good save from a powerful drive from Memic.
Malmö’s home match against their local rivals FC Copenhagen ended in a goalless draw. The teams are separated by the Øresund Bridge which is the fastest route between Sweden and Denmark.
Anderson Silva’s late goal for Pafos fired them to a 1-0 victory against Dynamo Kyiv. A first-half penalty from Toral Bayramov secured a 1-0 away win for Qarabag at the Macedonian club Shkendija.
