Rangers manager Philippe Clement says missed chances cost his side dearly in a “very harsh” 4-1 Europa League defeat to Lyon at Ibrox.
Captain James Tavernier and winger Vaclav Cerny failed to take good chances to open the scoring before Malick Fofana curled in the opener from 12 yards after 10 minutes.
Tom Lawrence levelled in the 14th minute but two goals from former Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette and a second for Fofana sealed the win for the Ligue 1 side.
“I think we started the game with good intentions, with good intensity, with good quality also,” said Clement.
“To put fire in the stands, to have an amazing European evening, when you have two 100 per cent chances, the first two chances of the game, you need to kill them off to get a special European night.
🎙️ Philippe Clement spoke to @RangersTV following this evening's match against Lyon | #UEL pic.twitter.com/Lazzk0qeuF
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 3, 2024
“I don’t think we can do much more than creating those kind of chances, I don’t think you can create better chances than that, but you need to kill them off.
“Against teams with this quality, you don’t get so many chances, so that’s disappointing. But 1-4 is a really harsh result.”
It has been a tough week for the Glasgow giants in Europe, after Celtic were thrashed 7-1 at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Lacazette was particularly impressive, the striker marking his 50th appearance in the competition with his 23rd and 24th Europa League goals.
Rangers – who reached the Europa League final in 2022 – have three points from two games to sit 17th in the early Europa League table, while Lyon are one of five teams on maximum points and are second behind Lazio.
