Clement rues missed chances and believes 4-1 defeat was ‘harsh’ on Rangers

Rangers manager Philippe Clement believes his side squandered “200%” of their chances to lead against Lyon before losing 4-1 in the Europa League.

Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each scored two goals as the French side demonstrated their attacking prowess at Ibrox, with Tom Lawrence’s early equaliser meaningless as Rangers suffered a crushing defeat.

Clement acknowledged that Lyon had taught his team a lesson in finishing, but also claimed that his team had squandered great scoring opportunities early in the game.

Captain James Tavernier had a close-range effort stopped in the first few minutes of the game, then Valclav Cerny blasted a shot over the bar with an open goal at his disposal.

The manager believes that taking those opportunities would have rocked Ibrox and placed Lyon on the back foot, rather than enabling them to take control.

“I think we started the game with good intentions, with good intensity, with good quality,” Clement was saying.

“To set fire to the stands and create an unforgettable European evening, we have two 200% opportunities. The first two opportunities of the game.

“So you have to murder them in order to receive the unique European evenings. It’s like that against teams of this calibre. You don’t get many chances. So it is disappointing.

“It’s also unfortunate that we conceded goals by losing balls in positions where we shouldn’t be losing the ball and, on occasion, by not defending well in our aggression and one-on-one situations against quality players. “What they’ve shown today, but 1-4 is an extremely harsh result.”

Clement also explained why he substituted captain James Tavernier for Neraysho Kasanwijro in the second half following the full-back’s torrid night.

“Everybody can be replaced, and he’s already played a lot of games, so there’s not much to say about it.

“And Nana demonstrated in the previous few weeks that he can be an excellent replacement, as well as a very strong defensive player, so those are typical things.

“Just as on the opposite side, players were changed. We’ll be playing over 60 games this season, so it’ll be impossible to play them all.

 

Read more at: https://sportupdates.co.uk