Rangers were left shocked by Unirea's fightback at Ibrox

By Clive Lindsay

Romanians Unirea Urziceni humiliated Rangers at Ibrox, handing the Glasgow side a second successive home 4-1 defeat in Champions League Group G.

Pedro Mendes' drive looped in off Ricardo Vilana after less than two minutes to give Rangers the lead.

Marius Bilasco tapped in an equaliser before Steven Davis missed a penalty.

A Bruno Fernandez flick deflected in off Kyle Lafferty after the break, Lee McCulloch headed into his own net and a free-kick went in off Stevie Naismith.

It meant that last season's surprise Romanian champions had recorded their first-ever win in European football.

And it leaves Rangers, beaten by Sevilla by the same scoreline in their previous Champions League game, bottom of their group and struggling to even claim the consolation of Europa League football that comes with finishing third.

Rangers manager Walter Smith had reverted to his tried and tested 4-1-4-1 European formation, with Mendes back from injury and coming into the startling line-up along with Naismith and lone striker Kenny Miller with Stevie Smith, Lafferty and Kris Boyd missing out.

The visitors were forced into a change in goal, with Lithuanian international Giedrius Arlauskis only deemed fit enough for the bench after a back injury.

And it was a nightmare start for stand-in goalkeeper Daniel Tudor after Rangers' first corner.

Mendes was found on the edge of the box by Jerome Rothen and the Portuguese midfielder's drive cannoned off Vilana and looped over Tudor and into the far corner of the net.

Rangers took heart from that and a Miller header flicked a couple of feet over, by which time Unirea coach Dan Petrescu decided he needed to make some drastic changes.

Right-back Epaminonda Nicu was withdrawn and striker Marius Onofras thrown in - an alteration that effectively changed the game.

Mendes had put Rangers in the lead with an early goal in Glasgow

Miller and Naismith both came close to applying the final touches to some fine flowing moves from the home side, but it was the visitors who were rewarded for making it a much more open game with their attacking formation.

Iulian Apostol found Pablo Brandan with a fine ball behind the Rangers defence and the left-back's low cross was tapped home by Bilasco from three yards to square the match after 32 minutes.

Rangers were handed a great chance to restore their lead five minutes later when Davie Weir's header struck the arm of Bruno Fernandes.

However, Tudor guessed correctly to push away Davis's rather tame penalty kick.

It was Rangers' turn to make a change at the break, with forward Lafferty replacing Mendes, who it appeared had not recovered fully from an injury picked up shortly after the opening goal.

However, it was Unirea who started the second-half in the ascendency, with Bilasco forcing goalkeeper Allan McGregor to turn the ball over the bar at full stretch.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Give your reaction to Unirea's win over Rangers

Following the corner, a back-heel from Bruno Fernandez deflected off Lafferty and in off the far post.

Rangers had been denied the imposing presence of Madjid Bougherra with a knee injury and stand-in centre half McCulloch headed a Tiberiu Balan free-kick into his own net after 59 minutes.

That prompted some home fans to head for the exits and more followed when Rangers went further behind six minutes later.

Brandan's free-kick from 25 yards took a deflection off the heel of Naismith and into the corner of the net.

With Rangers' fans leaving Ibrox in droves, Unirea eased to a victory that left the Scottish champions visibly shaken and demoralised and suffering jeers from their remaining support.

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