The result may have been different had Rangers been given a penalty

By Clive Lindsay

Rangers suffered a battering from a slick Sevilla, but the result will be overshadowed by the decision to deny the Glasgow side a clear early penalty.

Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson waved play on after Steven Naismith was tripped by Abdoulay Konko.

Rangers had the better of the first half but were hit by a Konko header and an Adriano curler after the break.

Luis Fabiano headed in and Fredi Kanoute slotted the fourth before Nacho Novo's powerful reply for Rangers.

The result - Rangers' worst home result in the Champions League since they lost to Juventus in 1996 - put Group G favourites Sevilla four points clear at the top.

Yet, for long spells, Walter Smith's side had put poor domestic form behind them to match a side sitting third in La Liga and who had gone into the game with five straight victories.

Naismith had been given the job of spearheading the Rangers attack with Kenny Miller nursing a slight injury and inspired the visitors as they created some early half-chances.

But Rangers had Allan McGregor to thank for keeping out Sevilla after 14 minutes when Sasa Papac, passed fit along with Steven Davis, gave too much space to Jesus Navas.

The winger found Kanoute and the goalkeeper parried clear the driven shot from 16 yards.

That only appeared to spur Rangers into greater effort and Lee McCulloch, supposed to be the holding player in Rangers' midfield, threatened twice from long range.

Adriano (left) scored the second goal for Sevilla at Ibrox

By now it was more than seven hours since Sevilla had conceded a goal and Rangers ought to have been given a golden opportunity to end that run after 36 minutes at Ibrox.

Konko mis-kicked an attempted clearance and, as Naismith picked up the ball and advanced towards the six-yard box, the defender clearly pulled the striker down.

To the astonishment of all at Ibrox, the referee, who had been standing a mere 10 yards away, waved play on.

Rangers were visibly shaken by the decision and, as Bougherra dallied on the ball, the defender was dispossessed by Adriano.

McGregor did well to parry the Sevilla man's powerful drive from 16 yards and Jesus Navas turned the rebound over from a difficult angle.

Rangers were further angered when the referee denied them a clear corner as they applied some early second-half pressure and then awarded Sevilla a soft free-kick against McCulloch from which the Spaniards took the lead.

The ball was played out wide to Jesus Navas and Konko rose unchallenged to head home the resulting cross from 10 yards.

Rangers pressed forward only to fall further behind to a sucker punch after 64 minutes, but it was a beautiful move from the visitors that virtually killed the tie.

Fabiano played a clever one-two with Kanoute before picking out Adriano for a neat curling finish into the far corner from 16 yards.

Kanoute combined with his strike partner again after 71 minutes, Fabiano rising above Stevie Whittaker's poor challenge to power his header home from the cross to the back post.

It was Fabiano to Kanoute in front of the unguarded net two minutes later as the dangerous pair broke clear.

Kris Boyd forced Palop into a save after breaking clear and fellow substitute Novo missed a good chance before redeeming himself with a superb finish from 22 yards after 88 minutes.

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