Rangers fall to Stuttgart 3-2

By: Ian Rose | November 27th, 2007

Great match on a cold night in Germany. Combined with Lyon’s 2-2 draw with Barca, Rangers are tied on points but remain in second place on head-to-head results. It all comes down to one match, December 12th at Ibrox, where a draw will be enough for Rangers, but only a win will do for Lyon.

Rangers took the early lead off of Charlie Adam in the 28th. Having just come on for the injured Lee McCulloch, Adam made his first touch count. Carlos Cuellar brilliantly headed DeMarcus Beasley’s corner to Adam’s feet, and he was able to flick it in for 1-0. Stuttgart’s Cacau was able to equalize in first-half injury time, with another deflected corner. The second half opened with another injury for Rangers, as Beasley was carted off after a collision with Stuttgart’s keeper. Pavel Pardo, the veteran from Mexico, gave Stuttgart their first lead with a low bullet that just snuck under Allan McGregor. McGregor was otherwise quite good on the night, but I really think he could have gotten to this one. Rangers got a lifeline in the 70th minute, as two Stuttgart mistakes led to a pretty pedestrian goal from Barry Ferguson. All credit to Barry for keeping his head and being in the right place at the right time, but the real surprise would have been him missing a shot like that.

Rangers looked to be taking at least a point, and were still attacking well, when Stuttgart’s Romanian striker Ciprian Marica came out of nowhere to deliver the killing blow with five minutes remaining. At about the same time, Lyon pulled even with Barcelona on Juninho’s goal, but none of it really mattered to Rangers’ advancement. Only a win here would have really helped them, and Walter Smith had to expect the situation he now finds himself in – hosting Lyon, needing a point.

On a side note, I have never understood the logic of late substitutions. Darcheville looked extremely tired and should have been replaced at about the 70th minute. When he finally did go off in the 81st for Daniel Cousin, Cousin barely had a chance to get into the match before it was over. In my opinion, if you have a player you are definitely going to replace, for the reason of fatigue, do it earlier. Fatigued players aren’t going to get a second wind in the middle of the match, and the new player, especially a lone striker, needs some time to get into the game. Far be it from me to question Walter Smith, but this decision seemed a bit off.

December 12th is already marked on my calendar. It should be a good one, and hopefully Rangers can hold on and make it through. Next up, Celtic’s match tomorrow with Shakhtar, a must-win for the Hoops.